Loose parts found in Boeing Max door panels, airlines say

Alaska Airlines and United Airlines each separately reported finding loose parts in door panels on other Boeing 737 Max 9 planes that were grounded for inspection following Friday night's crash.

An Alaska Airlines flight from Portland, Oregon to Ontario, California suffered an “explosive decompression” mid-flight after a panel used to block an unused emergency exit door blew off during the flight minutes after takeoff. Ta.

Federal investigators said they were looking to see if four bolts that were supposed to hold the panel in place when the plane took off were missing, according to the Associated Press.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which is investigating the incident, found a door blown off the plane about 16,000 feet above Oregon. The door will be sent to Washington DC. Further tests will be carried out in the materials laboratory.

the NTSB said The door plug on the right side of the aircraft was inspected and no discrepancies were found. Officials said they could not determine whether the four bolts holding the panel in place on the left door were originally present and that the institute would investigate the issue further.

United Airlines began a preliminary inspection of its fleet of 79 Max 9s on Saturday and “found areas where we believe there may be problems with the installation of door plugs, such as bolts that require additional tightening,” the airline said. . The Tech Ops team is working to resolve the issue and added that they are working to get Max 9 back into service “within the next few days.”

The airline said it expected significant flight cancellations as the aircraft remains grounded, but noted that it was able to switch some services to other aircraft.

Alaska Airlines announced late Friday that it was grounding all 65 of its Max 9 planes in response to the incident. Initial reports from the airline's investigation indicated that “some loose hardware was observed on some aircraft.”

The Hill contacted Alaska Airlines for more information.

The Federal Aviation Administration has since grounded 171 of the 200 Max 9s until the door plugs can be inspected and repaired if necessary, according to the Associated Press.

Boeing, which has had problems with various planes over the years, promised to “cooperate in addressing any findings” during the investigation.