United, Alaska Air find loose hardware on some Boeing 737 Max 9s after grounding

United
Airlines
said
Monday
that
it
has
found
loose
bolts
on
door
plugs
of
several


Boeing
737
Max
9
planes
during
inspections
spurred
when
a
panel
of
that
type

blew
out
during
an


Alaska
Airlines
flight
using
that
type
of
aircraft
last
week.

Alaska
Airlines
later
Monday
said
its
initial
inspections
of
the
jets
had
turned
up
“loose
hardware”
and
that,
“No
aircraft
will
be
returned
to
service”
until
formal
reviews
are
complete.

“The
safety
of
these
aircraft
is
our
priority
and
we
will
take
the
time
and
steps
necessary
to
ensure
their
airworthiness,
in
close
partnership
with
the
FAA,”
Alaska
Airlines
said

in
a
statement.

The
Federal
Aviation
Administration
on
Saturday
grounded
dozens
of
737
Max
9s
after
the
panel
blew
out
midflight
on
Alaska
Flight
1282.

Alaska
has
65
of
the
Max
9
planes
in
its
fleet.
United
has
79,
making
it
the
biggest
operator
of
the
jet
model.

“Since
we
began
preliminary
inspections
on
Saturday,
we
have
found
instances
that
appear
to
relate
to
installation
issues
in
the
door
plug
—
for
example,
bolts
that
needed
additional
tightening,”
United
said
in
a
statement.
“These
findings
will
be
remedied
by
our
Tech
Ops
team
to
safely
return
the
aircraft
to
service.”

The
FAA
earlier
Monday
declined
to
comment
on
the
airline’s
findings.

Plane
manufacturer
Boeing
said
earlier
Monday
it

issued
instructions
to
airlines
to
conduct
the
inspections
of
the
Max
9s
in
their
fleets.
United
had
begun
some
preliminary
inspection
work
in
the
past
few
days.

“We
are
committed
to
ensuring
every
Boeing
airplane
meets
design
specifications
and
the
highest
safety
and
quality
standards,”
Boeing
said
in
a
statement
Monday
evening.
“We
regret
the
impact
this
has
had
on
our
customers
and
their
passengers.”

No
one
was
seriously
injured
in
the
accident
aboard
the
Alaska
Airlines
flight,
though
the
blown-out
panel
produced
a
force
so
violent
that
some
headrests
and
seatbacks
were
ripped
from
the
cabin
and
the
cockpit
door
was
flung
open,
according
to
initial
details
of
a
federal
safety
investigation.
No
passengers
were
seated
in
the
two
seats
next
to
the
panel.

The
National
Transportation
Safety
Board
said
the
accident
would
have
been
worse
at
cruising
altitude
when
passengers
and
crews
are
walking
around
the
cabin.

But
the
accident
places

fresh
scrutiny
on
Boeing,
which
has
spent
years
trying
to
clean
up
a
host
of
quality
defects,
while
also
ramping
up
aircraft
production,
including
of
the
737
Max.
CEO
Dave
Calhoun
has
spent
months
trying
to
assure
airlines,
investors
and
financial
analysts
that
the
company
is
improving
its
supply
chain
and
working
to
resolve
its
quality
problems.

Calhoun
canceled
a
company
leadership
summit
this
week
and
plans
to
hold
an
all-employee
call
on
Tuesday.

The
737
Max
is
Boeing’s
best-selling
aircraft,
with
more
than
4,000
orders
to
fill.
However,
the
more
common
Max
8,
which
is
not
affected
by
the
grounding,
makes
up
the
majority
of
those
orders.

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