The fuselage plug area of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 Boeing 737-9 MAX, which was forced to make an emergency landing with a spot within the fuselage, is seen during its investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in Portland, Oregon, U.S. January 7, 2024.
NTSB | Via Reuters
Boeing has given airlines instructions on methods to inspect their 737 Max 9 jetliners, a step toward ending the grounding of the planes, in keeping with an internal message from company executives.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered airlines to stop flying dozens of the jets over the weekend, lower than a day after a door plug blew open during an Alaska Airlines flight because it was at 16,000 feet.
Nobody was seriously injured within the accident during Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, which was certain for Ontario, California, when the door plug blew, forcing it to return to Portland, Oregon, minutes into the flight.
It wasn’t immediately clear how long the inspections would take.
“Our teams have been working diligently – with thorough FAA review – to offer comprehensive, technical instructions to operators for the required inspections. This morning, our team issued the instructions via a multi-operator message,” said Boeing’s industrial airplanes president and CEO, Stan Deal, and its chief aerospace safety officer and senior vp of worldwide aerospace safety, Mike Delaney, in the interior message.
There are greater than 200 737 Max 9 aircraft in fleets worldwide. United Airlines has a fleet of 79 737 Max 9s and Alaska Airlines has 65. The rest are spread across other airlines.
“The FAA’s priority is at all times keeping Americans protected,” the agency said in a press release Monday. “In that spirit, Boeing 737-9 aircraft will remain grounded until operators complete enhanced inspections which include each left and right cabin door exit plugs, door components, and fasteners. Operators must also complete corrective motion requirements based on findings from the inspections prior to bringing any aircraft back into service.”
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