FAA grounds more than 170 Boeing 737 Max 9s after section of Alaska Airlines plane blows out

The
Federal
Aviation
Administration
on
Saturday
ordered
a
temporary
grounding
of
dozens
of


Boeing
737
Max
9
aircraft
for
inspections,
a
day
after
a
piece
of
the
aircraft
blew
out
in
the
middle
of
an


Alaska
Airlines
flight.

Images
and
video
of
Alaska
Airlines
Flight
1282
that
were
shared
on
social
media
showed
a
gaping
hole
on
the
side
of
the
plane
and
passengers
using
oxygen
masks
before
it
returned
to
Portland
shortly
after
taking
off
for
Ontario,
California,
on
Friday
afternoon.

The
FAA’s
emergency
airworthiness
directive
will
affect
about
171
planes
worldwide
and
applies
to
U.S.
airlines
and
carriers
operating
in
U.S.
territory,
the
agency
said.

No
serious
injuries
were
reported
on
the
flight,
according
to
federal
safety
officials.
There
were
171
passengers
and
six
crewmembers
on
board,
Alaska
Air
said.

“Safety
will
continue
to
drive
our
decision-making
as
we
assist
the
NTSB’s
investigation
into
Alaska
Airlines
Flight
1282,”
FAA
Administrator
Mike
Whitaker
said
in
a
statement.

Large-scale
groundings
of
aircraft
by
the
FAA
or
other
aviation
authorities
are
rare.
The
FAA
has
heavily
scrutinized
the
Boeing
737
Max
since
two
fatal
crashes
grounded
the
jetliner
worldwide
almost
five
years
ago.
Two
other
models
of
the
Max,
the
smallest
and
largest
version,
have
not
yet
been
cleared
by
the
agency
to
enter
commercial
service.

The
section
of
the
fuselage
missing
appeared
to
correspond
to
an
exit
not
used
by
Alaska
Airlines,
or
other
carriers
that
don’t
have
high-density
seating
configurations,
and
was
plugged.

The
incident
was
described
as
“an
explosive
decompression
at
the
window
exit,”
said
Sara
Nelson,
president
of
the
Association
of
Flight
Attendants-CWA,
the
labor
union
that
represents
Alaska’s
cabin
crew
and
flight
attendants
at
United,


Spirit
and
other
carriers.

Anthony
Brickhouse,
a
professor
of
aerospace
safety
at
Embry-Riddle
Aeronautical
University,
said
such
an
incident
is
extremely
rare.

“Rapid
decompression
is
a
serious
matter,”
he
said.
“To
see
a
gaping
hole
in
an
aircraft
is
not
something
we
typically
see.
In
aviation
safety,
we
would
call
this
a
structural
failure.”

The
incident
is
also
a
reminder
to
keep
your
seatbelt
fastened
when
seated,
he
added.

“I
always
advise
people
on
a
commercial
aircraft,
keep
your
seatbelt
on
regardless
of
what
the
light
says,”
Brickhouse
said.

A
passenger
didn’t
appear
to
be
seated
in
the
seat
next
to
the
panel.

Before
the
FAA
issued
its
directive,
Alaska
Airlines
earlier
said
it
would
ground
its
fleet
of
Boeing
737
Max
9
planes.
Alaska
said
on
Saturday
afternoon
that
of
the
65
Boeing
737
Max
9
planes
in
its
fleet,
18
“had
in-depth
and
thorough
plug
door
inspections
performed
as
part
of
a
recent
heavy
maintenance
visit.”

Those
planes
were
returned
to
service
on
Saturday,
Alaska
said.

More
than
140
flights,
about
14%
of
Alaska’s
schedule,
were
canceled
on
Saturday,
according
to
FlightAware.

The
National
Transportation
Safety
Board
sent
a
team
to
Portland
on
Saturday
to
investigate
the
incident.

United
Airlines,
the
largest
operator
of
the
planes
in
the
U.S.,
had
prepared
to
ground
dozens
of
its


Boeing
737
Max
9
aircraft
for
inspections,
CNBC
reported
earlier.

United
has
79
Boeing
737
Max
9
aircraft
in
its
fleet
but
just
over
30
of
them
have
already
“received
the
necessary
inspection
that
is
required
by
the
FAA,”
the
airline
said.
The
inspections
were
expected
to
cause
about
60
flight
cancellations
on
Saturday,
United
said.

The
FAA
said
the
inspections
will
take
between
four
and
eight
hours
per
plane.

The
Boeing
737
Max
9
is
a
larger
version
of
Boeing’s
best-selling
jetliner,
the
737
Max
8.
Max
planes
were
grounded
worldwide
in
2019
after

two
fatal
crashes
within
about
five
months
of
one
another.
The
U.S.
lifted
its
flight
ban
on
the
jets
in
late
2020
after
software
and
training
updates.

The
Boeing
737
Max
9
has
an
emergency
exit
door
cut
behind
the
wings
for
use
in
dense
seating
cabin
configurations,
like
those
used
by
budget
airlines,
according
to
Flightradar24.

“The
doors
are
not
activated
on
Alaska
Airlines
aircraft
and
are
permanently
‘plugged,'”
Flightradar24
said.

Boeing
didn’t
comment
beyond
its
statement
when
asked
about
the
sealed
emergency
exit
door.


Spirit
AeroSystems,
which
makes
the
fuselages
for
the
planes,
referred
CNBC
to
Boeing
when
asked
about
the
incident.

“Safety
is
our
top
priority
and
we
deeply
regret
the
impact
this
event
has
had
on
our
customers
and
their
passengers,”
Boeing
said
in
a
statement
on
Saturday.
“We
agree
with
and
fully
support
the
FAA’s
decision
to
require
immediate
inspections
of
737-9
airplanes
with
the
same
configuration
as
the
affected
airplane.”

The
company
said
it
is
supporting
the
NTSB’s
investigation.

There
are
215
Boeing
737
Max
9
planes
in
service
worldwide,
according
to
aviation-data
firm
Cirium.
In
addition
to
United
and
Alaska
Air,
other
operators
include
Aeromexico,
Turkish
Airlines,
Icelandair
and
Panama’s
Copa
Airlines.

Southwest
Airlines
and


American
Airlines
operate
the
smaller
737
Max
8.

Late
last
year,
Boeing
urged
airlines
to inspect
aircraft for
a
“possible”
loose
bolt
in
the
rudder
control
system,
the
latest
in
a
series
of

manufacturing
flaws
on
Boeing
jets
that
have
prompted
additional
inspections,
and
slowed
deliveries
of
the
jets.