A harrowing flight over the weekend once again forced Boeing to confront concerns about its planes, especially the 737 MAX, which is already one of the most scrutinized planes in history.
No one was seriously injured in the accident that occurred on board an Alaska Airlines plane on Friday night, as part of the fuselage of the 737 MAX 9 exploded in the air, exposing passengers to strong winds. The plane landed safely, but the incident on a flight from Portland, Oregon, to Ontario, California, alarmed travelers and prompted immediate safety inspections on similar aircraft.
Federal authorities focused their attention on the mid-cabin door seal, which is used to fill the space where an emergency exit would be located if the plane is equipped with more seats.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered inspections of 171 Max 9 planes operated by Alaska Airlines and other US airlines, causing dozens of flights to be canceled on Saturday. She said inspections should take four to eight hours per aircraft.
“We agree with and fully support the FAA’s decision to request immediate inspections of 737-9 aircraft in the same configuration as the affected aircraft,” Jessica Kowal, a Boeing spokeswoman, said on Saturday.
It is not clear whether Boeing is responsible for what happened, but the incident raises new questions for the manufacturer. Another version of the Max plane, the 737 Max 8, was involved in two accidents that killed hundreds of people in 2018 and 2019 and led to the grounding of that plane worldwide.
“The problem is what’s going on at Boeing,” said John Goglia, a longtime aviation safety consultant and retired member of the National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates plane accidents.
Last month, the company urged airlines to inspect more than 1,300 delivered Max jets for a possible loose screw in the rudder control system. Over the summer, Boeing said a major supplier improperly drilled holes in a component that helps maintain cabin pressure. Since then, Boeing has invested and worked closely with that supplier, Spirit AeroSystems, to address production issues.
“We are seeing increased stability and quality of performance within our plants, but we are working to hold the supply chain to the same standards,” Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun said on a call with investor analysts and reporters in October. .
Spirit AeroSystems also worked on the 737 Max 9 fuselage, including fabricating and installing the door seal that failed on an Alaska Airlines flight.
Deliveries of another Boeing aircraft, the twin-aisle 787 Dreamliner, were halted for more than a year, until the summer of 2022, while the planemaker worked with the Federal Aviation Administration to address various quality concerns, including tiny gaps in the airframe. body.
Another flaw was discovered last summer, slowing deliveries of the plane again. Production of both the 737 and 787 has been slow amid those and other quality and supply chain issues.
Max was grounded in early 2019 after two accidents that killed 346 people in Indonesia and Ethiopia. Over the course of more than 20 months, Boeing worked with regulatory agencies around the world to fix issues with the plane’s flight control software and other components.
By the time passenger flights on the Max resumed in late 2020, the crisis had cost the company about $20 billion.
The plane’s two medium-sized models, the Max 8 and Max 9, have flown since then. But the smallest, the Max 7, and the largest, the Max 10, have not yet been approved by regulators.
The MAX is the best-selling plane in Boeing’s history. The more than 4,500 outstanding orders for the aircraft represent more than 76% of Boeing’s order book. The plane is also very popular among airlines: Of the nearly three million flights scheduled globally this month, about 5 percent are scheduled using the Max, mostly the Max 8, according to Cirium, an aviation data provider.
Alaska Airlines has 65 Max 9 aircraft, while United Airlines has 79. Both are conducting inspections on Saturday.
Turkish Airlines announced on Sunday that it would immediately stop operating the five MAX 9 aircraft in its fleet until further notice.
Investigators at the National Transportation Safety Board have begun looking into the case and are expected to examine a wide range of factors, including Boeing’s manufacturing process, the FAA’s oversight of the company, and any work done by Boeing or Alaska Airlines on the plane. Investigators also identified the area where the door may have fallen down and asked for the public’s help in finding it.
“This is the thing that, until you get into the investigation — you determine all the facts, circumstances and circumstances of this particular event — do you determine whether this is just a one-time problem or a systemic problem,” Gregg said. Faith, an aviation security expert and former NTSB investigator.
Meanwhile, those who build, service, operate and regulate aircraft will all be in the spotlight.
“Every American deserves a full explanation from Boeing and the FAA on what went wrong and what steps are being taken to ensure another accident does not occur in the future,” Sen. J.D. Vance, Republican of Ohio, said in a post on Saturday. On X.
Mark Walker And Shafak Taimur Contributed to reports.