PORTLAND, Ore. – United Airlines said Monday that some Boeing 737 Max 9 planes it inspected were found to have loose bolts and other defects after a similar Alaska Airlines jet exploded mid-flight on Friday. announced that an “installation problem” had been found.
The inspection focuses on plugs used to seal off areas set aside for additional emergency doors that are not required on United Airlines and Alaska Airlines Max 9s.
“Since we began preliminary inspections on Saturday, we have discovered areas where we believe there may be problems with the installation of door plugs, including areas where bolts may require additional tightening,” Chicago-based United Airlines said in a statement.
After Friday night's frightening flight, the Federal Aviation Administration grounded all Max 9 planes operated by Alaska Airlines and United Airlines, as well as some planes operated by foreign airlines.
A Boeing plane that exploded over Oregon was not used on a flight to Hawaii after three flights had warning lights on that could indicate a pressurization problem.
National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said Sunday that Alaska Airlines is forcing the plane to fly longer over water so that it can “get back to the airport very quickly” if the warning light comes back on. It has been decided to limit the number of
Homendy said the pressurized ramp may be unrelated to Friday's incident in which a plug covering an unused exit door was blown off a Boeing 737 Max 9 during a cruise about 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) over Oregon. I was warned that there would be.
The FAA on Monday approved guidelines to inspect and, if necessary, repair door plugs on other Max 9 jets. The move could speed up the return to service of the 171 planes grounded by the FAA.
There are 64 other Max 9s in Alaska, and United Airlines owns 79 of them. No other U.S. airline operates this model of Boeing 737.
On Monday, the first trading day since the incident, shares of Boeing Co. fell 8%, and shares of Spirit Aerosystems, which makes Boeing's 737 Max planes, fell 11%. Alaska Airlines' stock price was essentially unchanged after falling early.
The auto-pressurization system warning came on on the ill-fated Alaska Airlines plane during three previous flights. Homendy said he did not have details about the Dec. 7 accident, but said it happened during the flight on Jan. 3 and again after the plane landed on Jan. 4, the day before the explosion.
“We will look into it further and have requested documentation of all defects since the aircraft was delivered on October 31,” she said.
The NTSB announced that the missing door plug was found Sunday in the backyard of a home near Portland, Oregon. Investigators plan to determine how the plug, which measures 26 by 48 inches (66 by 121 centimeters) and weighs 63 pounds (28.5 kilograms), escaped.
Investigators have no benefit in hearing what was going on in the cockpit during the flight. Homendy said the cockpit's voice recorder, one of two so-called black boxes, recorded the sound of the flight two hours later.
At a press conference Sunday night, Homendy revealed new details about the chaotic scene that unfolded on the plane. The explosive air rush damaged several rows of seats and tore insulation from the walls. The cockpit door swung open and slammed into the bathroom door.
Troops ripped the headset off the co-pilot, and the captain lost part of his headset. Homendy said a quick reference checklist was placed within easy reach of the pilot and popped out of the open cockpit.
Two mobile phones believed to belong to passengers on Friday's horrifying flight have been found on the ground. One was found in the garden and the other on the side of the road. Both were turned over to the NTSB.
However, the plane returned to Portland with no serious injuries to the 171 passengers and six crew members.
Hours after the incident, the FAA ordered 171 of the 218 Max 9 planes in service to be grounded, including all planes used by Alaska Airlines and United Airlines, until they could be inspected. This resulted in flight cancellations for both airlines.
Early Monday morning, Alaska Airlines was forced to cancel 141 flights, or 20% of its total. United Airlines canceled 221 flights, or 8% of its total, scheduled for Monday.
Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun called into a company-wide webcast on Tuesday to discuss the incident with employees and senior executives.
“When a serious incident like this occurs, it is important that we work transparently with customers and regulators to understand and address the causes of the incident and ensure it never happens again.” Calhoun he said in a message to employees on Sunday. . “This is and must be the focus of our team right now.”
Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 took off from Portland on Friday at 5:07 p.m., embarking on a two-hour journey to Ontario, California. About six minutes later, as the plane was climbing at about 16,000 feet (4.8 km), a chunk of its fuselage was blown off.
One of the pilots declared an emergency and asked permission to descend to 10,000 feet (3 kilometers), where there was enough air for passengers to breathe without oxygen masks.
A video posted online by a passenger showed a large hole where the paneled door used to be. They applauded when the plane landed safely, about 13 minutes after the explosion. Firefighters came to the aisle and asked passengers to remain seated while they treated the injured.
Homendy said it was very fortunate that the plane had not yet reached cruising altitude and passengers and flight attendants could have been walking around on board.
The aircraft involved rolled off the assembly line and received certification two months ago, according to online FAA records. Flight Radar 24, another tracking service, says it has operated 145 flights since it began commercial operations on Nov. 11. The flight from Portland was the third plane of the day.
The Max is the latest version of Boeing's venerable 737, a twin-engine, single-aisle aircraft frequently used on U.S. domestic flights. This plane entered service in May 2017.
Two Max 8 jets crashed in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people. All Max 8 and Max 9 planes were grounded worldwide for nearly two years until Boeing made changes to the automatic flight control system involved in the crash.
The Max has also been plagued by other issues, including manufacturing defects, overheating concerns for which the FAA has told pilots to limit the use of anti-icing systems, and the possibility of loose bolts in the rudder system.
