The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the United States has ordered the grounding of Boeing 737 MAX 9 jets after the emergency door on an Alaska Airlines plane blew out mid-flight.
Flight AS1282 made an emergency landing at Portland International Airport on Saturday after a hole approximately the size of a refrigerator emerged in the side of the plane, causing the cabin to depressurise. No one was seriously injured, according to the Sydney Morning Herald, and the 174 passengers and six crew members used oxygen masks on their descent to Portland.
US aviation investigators said initial findings suggest that the emergency was not the result of a widespread flaw with the Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft.
Alaska Air flight lost a window mid flight. Flight #AS1282 made an emergency landing. pic.twitter.com/g8ezpsYlWz
— Heidi Hatch KUTV (@tvheidihatch) January 6, 2024
“We’ll look at the pressurisation system, we’ll look at the door, the hinges,” Jennifer Homendy, chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), said at a news conference.
Do we suspect that there is an overall design problem with this plane based on previous accidents involving Boeing Max? At this time, no.”
Alaska Airlines’ CEO, Ben Minicucci, said the inspection of the carrier’s 737-9 fleet could take several days to complete. The planes make up a fifth of the airline’s 314 planes.
“We are working with Boeing and regulators to understand what occurred … and will share updates as more information is available,” Minicucci said. “My heart goes out to those who were on this flight – I am so sorry for what you experienced.”
The aircraft involved in the emergency had only been in action for two months and undergone 145 flights since hitting the skies on 11 November.
No Australian carriers have Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes in their respective fleets.
The only airlines which, prior to this incident, operated MAX 9 jets are Aeromexico, Air Tanzania, Alaska Airlines, Copa Airlines, Correndon Dutch Airlines, flydubai, Icelandair, Lion Air, SCAT Airlines, Turkish Airlines, and United Airlines.
Copa and Aeromexico have announced they will both ground their respective MAX 9 planes, while Travel Weekly awaits comment from Turkish Airlines.
United originally had 7,951 flights scheduled with the 737-9 planes this month, while Alaska had 5,082 scheduled.
This emergency comes nearly five years after the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft was grounded around the world after a fault in the plane’s design resulted in two crashes that killed hundreds of passengers in 2018 and 2019. The planes have since returned to service after Boeing made changes to its flight control system which was implicated in the crashes.
(Featured Image: Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 Aircraft taking off – iStock/Laser1987)
