Boeing says door flew off Alaska Airlines 737 Max because missing paperwork meant four bolts were never reattached to hold it in place

Boeing has offered a bizarre explanation after a door plug blew out on one of its planes mid during an Alaska Airlines flight.

The terrifying incident saw the panel dramatically wrenched off at 16,000 feet, just minutes after the California-bound plane took off from Oregon.

Some passengers' had clothes and their phones sucked out, while others were left injured when the gaping hole caused a sudden decompression.

The ordeal on January 5 saw the FAA ground Boeing's 737 Max fleet pending a massive investigation, which has so far been hampered by a lack of documentation around the door plug.

However, Boeing has now oddly stated that the missing paperwork may be responsible for the situation in the first place.

The aerospace giant claims that the lack of paperwork resulted in four bolts never being fitted which are required to hold the door in place, CNN reports.

Preliminary findings from a National Transportation Safety Board investigation first identified that the bolts were missing.

Boeing said that two separate groups of employees are responsible for removing and reinstalling the door plug as it moved along the assembly line.

The first group took the panel off to address issues with rivets, but did not generate a paper trail showing they had removed the door plug and the necessary bolts to carry out the work.

This meant that when the next group reinstalled the door plug they believed it was just a temporary hold and the plane would not be flying in that state, according to Boeing. 

'The doors team closes up the aircraft before it is moved outside, but it's not their responsibility to install the pins,' said Elizabeth Lund, senior vice president of quality for Boeing's commercial airplane unit. 

'(Permanent) reinstallation is done by another team based on the paperwork showing what jobs are unfinished,' Lund said. 'But there was no paperwork, so nobody knew to follow up.' 

And in a terrifying twist, it has since emerged that the plane flew in the temporary condition for two months before it blew out.  

Thankfully nobody was seriously hurt and the plane was able to be landed safely.

But Boeing has since been reprimanded by the NTSB for disclosing the information before its investigation is finished.

The aircraft manufacturer apologized and defended itself by stating it was done in an effort to 'take responsibility'.

The dispute is just the latest setback for the beleaguered aircraft manufacturer, which has seen share prices nosedive and orders dry up in the wake of several safety concerns around its 737 Max jets.

These included two crashes in 2018 and 2019 which killed a total of 346 people.

Several whistleblowers have also come forward with allegations key protocols were being rushed or overlooked in a bid to speed up manufacturing.

Boeing has since announced it has slowed down the assembly process to prevent planes advancing along under the assumption problems will be fixed down the line.

'We have slowed down our factories to make sure this is under control,' Lund said.