PORTLAND, Ore. — United Airlines said Monday it found loose bolts and other “installation issues” on parts of several Boeing 737 Max 9 jets it inspected after a mid-flight explosion on a similar Alaska Airlines jet on Friday.
The inspection focused on plugs used to cover areas set aside for unnecessary extra emergency doors on United and Alaska Max 9s.
“Since we began our initial inspection on Saturday, we have encountered incidents that appear to be related to installation issues in the door plugs — for example, bolts that require additional tightening,” Chicago-based United said.
The Federal Aviation Administration grounded all Max 9s operated by Alaska and United and some flown by foreign airlines after Friday night’s terrifying flight.
The Boeing plane that exploded in flight over Oregon was grounded for flights to Hawaii after warning lights that may indicate a pressurization problem came on on three separate flights.
Alaska Airlines decided to block the plane from long flights over water so the plane “can quickly return to the airport” if the warning lights reappear, Jennifer Homendy, chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board, said Sunday.
Homendy warned that the pressure light may not be related to the incident on Friday in which a plug covering an unused exit door blew out a Boeing 737 Max 9 as it glided about three miles (4.8 kilometers) over Oregon.
This photo released by the National Transportation Safety Board shows a door plug from Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 on Monday, Jan. 8, 2024. AP
On Monday, the FAA approved guidelines for inspecting the door plugs on other Max 9 jets and repairing them, if necessary. The move could speed the return to service of the 171 planes the FAA grounded.
Alaska has 64 other Max 9s, and United Airlines owns 79 of them. No other US airline operates the Boeing 737 model.
Shares of The Boeing Co. fell 8% and shares of Spirit AeroSystems, which builds the fuselage for the Boeing 737 Max, fell 11% on Monday, the first day of trading since the incident. Shares of Alaska Airlines were little changed after falling earlier in the session.
This photo released by the National Transportation Safety Board shows a door plug from Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 on Monday, Jan. 8, 2024. AP
The auto-pressurization system warning on the ill-fated Alaska Airlines jet went off during the previous three flights. Homendy said he did not have details about the Dec. 7 incident, but it happened again during the flight on Jan. 3 and after the plane landed on Jan. 4 — the day before the explosion.
“We plan to look further, and we have requested documentation of all defects since the delivery of the aircraft on October 31,” he said.
The NTSB said the missing door plug was found Sunday near Portland, Oregon, in a backyard. Investigators will examine the plug, which is 26 by 48 inches (66 by 121 centimeters) and weighs 63 pounds (28.5 kilograms), for signs of how it broke.
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Lead Investigator John Lovell examined the fuselage plug area of Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-9 MAX Flight 1282, which was forced to make an emergency landing. via REUTERS
Investigators will not have the benefit of hearing what happened in the cockpit during the flight. The cockpit voice recorder – one of two so-called black boxes – recorded through the flight sound after two hours, Homendy said.
At a press conference Sunday night, Homendy provided new details about the chaos that unfolded on the plane. The explosive air blast damaged several rows of seats and pulled insulation from the walls. The cockpit door flew open and slammed into the toilet door.
The team ripped the headset from the co-pilot and the captain lost part of his headset. A quick reference checklist is kept within easy reach of the pilot flying out of the open cockpit, Homendy said.
Alaska Airlines flight stops at Portland International Airport on Friday, January 5, 2024. via KPTV
Two cellphones that appeared to belong to passengers on Friday’s terrifying flight were found on the ground. One was found in the yard, the other on the side of the road. Both were submitted to the NTSB.
The plane made it back to Portland, however, and none of the 171 passengers and six crew members were seriously injured.
Hours after the incident, the FAA ordered the suspension of 171 of the 218 Max 9s in operation, including all used by Alaska Airlines and United Airlines, until they could be inspected. That led to flight cancellations on both airlines.
This image from a video provided by Elizabeth Le shows passengers near the damage on Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9, Flight 1282, which was forced to return to Portland International Airport on Friday. AP
Early Monday, Alaska Airlines was forced to cancel 20% of all flights, 141 in all. United canceled 221 flights, or 8% of its total scheduled flights on Monday.
Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun called a company-wide webcast to talk about the incident with employees and senior leadership on Tuesday.
“When a serious accident like this occurs, it’s important for us to work transparently with our customers and regulators to understand and address the cause of the incident, and to ensure it doesn’t happen again,” Calhoun wrote in a message to employees Sunday. “This is and must be the focus of our team right now.”
This photo released by the National Transportation Safety Board shows a door plug from Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 on Monday, Jan. 8, 2024, in Portland, Ore. AP
Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 departed Portland at 5:07 pm Friday for a two-hour trip to Ontario, California. About six minutes later, a chunk of the fuselage exploded as the plane climbed to about 16,000 feet (4.8 kilometers).
One of the pilots declared an emergency and requested an evacuation down to 10,000 feet (3 kilometers), where the air would be rich enough for passengers to breathe without oxygen masks.
A video posted online by a passenger showed a gaping hole where the paneled door had been. They applauded when the plane landed safely about 13 minutes after the explosion. Firefighters descended the aisles, asking passengers to remain in their seats while they attended to the injured.
It was fortunate that the plane had not yet reached cruising altitude, when passengers and flight attendants might be walking around the cabin, Homendy said.
The plane rolled off the assembly line and received its certification two months ago, according to online FAA records. It has gone through 145 flights since entering commercial service on November 11, said FlightRadar24, another tracking service. The flight from Portland was the third flight of the day.
The Max is the latest version of the venerable Boeing 737, a twin-engine, single-aisle airliner often used on US domestic flights. The aircraft began operating in May 2017.
Two Max 8 jets crashed in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people. All Max 8 and Max 9 aircraft were grounded worldwide for nearly two years until Boeing made changes to the automatic flight control system involved in the crash.
The Max has been plagued by other issues, including manufacturing flaws, concerns about overheating that led the FAA to tell pilots to limit use of the anti-ice system, and possible loose bolts in the steering system.
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
