Passenger oxygen masks hang from part of the roof and sidewall next to the missing window of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, which suffered decompression shortly after takeoff while bound for Ontario, California, in January in Portland, Oregon, USA. It is being May 2024. This photo was obtained from social media.
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The Federal Aviation Administration on Saturday ordered the temporary grounding of dozens of planes. boeing A day after a 737 Max 9 plane exploded during an inspection while part of the plane was in flight. alaska airlines Flight.
Images and videos of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 shared on social media show a large hole in the side of the plane, which prevented passengers from getting oxygen from the plane shortly after taking off for Ontario, California, before returning to Portland on Friday afternoon. He was seen wearing a mask.
The FAA’s emergency airworthiness directive affects approximately 171 aircraft worldwide and also applies to U.S. carriers and carriers operating within U.S. territory, the agency said. Alaska Airlines and United Airlines announced late Saturday that they would cease all fleets of Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft.
No serious injuries were reported during the flight, federal safety officials said. Alaska Airlines said there were 171 passengers and six crew members on board.
“Safety continues to be the driving force in our decision-making as we support 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 and other aviation authorities are rare. The FAA has been scrutinizing the Boeing 737 Max since it was grounded nearly five years ago after two fatal crashes around the world. His two other models of Max (minimum and maximum versions) have not yet been cleared by government agencies to enter commercial service.
The missing section of the plane appeared to correspond to an unused exit by Alaska Airlines and other airlines that do not have high-density seating configurations, and was blocked.
The National Transportation Safety Board has launched an investigation. Chair Jennifer Homendy held a press conference Saturday night in Portland, asking the public for help finding the plane’s missing door.
Homendy said there were no passengers in the seats closest to the panel or in the middle seats of the rows where the doors were blown out, and that the plane was still climbing and at the cruising altitude where travelers and crew members would have been standing. He added that he was lucky that it had not reached that level. Or walk around the cabin.
“It could have ended much more tragically,” she said.
The incident was described as “an explosive decompression at the window exit,” said Sara Nelson, president of the Flight Attendants Association CWA, the union representing Alaska flight attendants and United Airlines flight attendants. There is. spirit and other carriers.
Anthony Brickhouse, a professor of aerospace safety at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, said such accidents are extremely rare.
“Rapid decompression is a serious problem,” he said. “It’s not something we normally see when an aircraft gets a big hole. In aviation safety, we would call this a structural defect.”
The incident also serves as a reminder to fasten your seatbelt when seated, he added.
“I always advise people on commercial aircraft to keep their seatbelts on no matter what the traffic light is,” Brickhouse said.
Before the FAA issued its directive, Alaska Airlines announced it would ground its Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft. On Saturday, the airline said 18 of its planes “underwent a thorough plug door inspection as part of a recent heavy maintenance visit,” but then announced it would temporarily ground all aircraft.
Alaska Airlines said it is “in contact with the FAA to determine what, if any, additional work is required before these aircraft return to service.”
Alaska Airlines announced that as of 7 p.m. ET, 160 flights were canceled, impacting 23,000 customers.
investigation begins
The National Transportation Safety Board sent a team to Portland on Saturday to investigate the incident.
united airlinesThe company, the largest aircraft operator in the United States, was preparing to ground dozens of planes. boeing CNBC earlier reported that a 737 Max 9 aircraft will be sent for inspection. The airline announced late Saturday that it had grounded its entire fleet of 79 Boeing 737 Max 9 planes, but earlier said 30 of them had already met FAA inspection requirements.
According to the FAA, inspections take four to eight hours per aircraft.
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 his two fatal crashes within about five months. The U.S. lifted the jet ban in late 2020 after updating software and training.
jammed door
According to Flightradar24, the Boeing 737 Max 9 has emergency exit doors cut into the back of the wings for use in close-seating cabin configurations like those used by low-cost airlines.
“The door is inoperable and permanently ‘blocked’ on the Alaska Airlines aircraft,” Flightradar 24 said.
Boeing did not comment beyond the statement when asked about the sealed exit doors. Spirit Aero SystemsThe company that makes the 737 Max’s fuselage confirmed to CNBC that it has installed plugged doors on the plane.
“Safety is our top priority and we deeply regret the impact this incident has had on our customers and their passengers,” Boeing said in a statement Saturday. “We agree with and fully support the FAA’s decision to require immediate inspection of 737-9 aircraft with the same configuration as the affected aircraft.”
The company said it supports the NTSB investigation.
According to aviation data firm Cirium, there are 215 Boeing 737 Max 9s in service around the world. In addition to United Airlines and Alaska Airlines, other airlines include Aeromexico, Turkish Airlines, Icelandair, and Panama’s Copa Airlines.
southwest airlines and american airlines It operates a small 737 Max 8.
Late last year, Boeing asked airlines to inspect their planes for the “possible” bolt in the rudder control system that had come loose. This is the latest in a series of manufacturing defects in Boeing jets that require additional inspections and delay deliveries of the jets.
