Aviation

Boeing 737 Max 9, new safety alert: after Alaska Airlines, the US also grounded them and ordered inspections

Aircraft forced to make an emergency landing in Portland, Oregon. Causes are being investigated

6 January 2024

Usa, Boeing dell'Alaska Airlines perde finestrino in volo: le immagini

3' min read

US carrier Alaska Airlines will temporarily ground its fleet of 65 Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft. The decision comes after a cabin panel burst forced a passenger-laden jetliner to make an emergency landing on 5 January 2024, CEO Ben Minicucci said. As it turned out, the aircraft had been certified in October 2023.

Minicucci made it known that the aircraft would only be put back into service following maintenance and safety inspections, which were being completed in the 'coming days'. The measure was described as precautionary.

The Federal Aviation Administration (Faa), the US aviation safety agency, also announced that it had ordered the temporary grounding of some Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft after an accident on an Alaska Airlines flight. Faa administrator Mike Whitaker explained that the agency will require immediate inspections of some planes before they can return to the air. The order covers 171 aircraft worldwide.

Alaska Airlines flight 1282, bound for Ontario, California, crashed shortly after departure at 17:06 Pacific time and landed safely in Portland, Oregon, at 17:26. On board were 171 passengers and six crew members, according to data from the airline and the Flightradar24 portal.

"We are aware of the incident involving Alaska Airlines Flight No. AS1282," the company wrote on X, the former Twitter, "We are working to gather more information and are in contact with our client airline. A technical team from Boeing is ready to support the investigation'.

Images of a panel 'detached' from the aircraft

According to Flightradar24 and security analysts, external photos of the plane would show that a panel used for the rear exit door had separated from the plane. Posts circulated on social media highlight the absence of a window and a portion of the plane's side wall . "Although this type of event is rare, our flight crew was trained and prepared to safely handle the situation," the company announced.

The National Transportation Safety Board, the government agency that investigates transportation accidents, said it was investigating the case of depressurisation. The Federal Aviation Administration, the agency that oversees air transport, also pointed out that the crew had reported a pressurisation problem. The new MAX 9 was delivered to Alaska Airlines in late October and certified in early November, according to FAA data.

The case of the Boeing in flight for Alaska Airlines adds up to other plane crashes in recent months. Only on 2 January 2024 a Japan Airlines plane broke in two and burst into flames on the runway of Tokyo's Haneda Airport after a collision with a Coast Guard aircraft.

Boeing safety problems

Above all, the Boeing 737, the model that has given the Seattle-based aviation giant more than one concern, remains in the crosshairs. The company also recently urged airlines in its customer base to inspect the 737 Max for a "possible loose bolt" in the rudder control system. Boeing recommended the inspections after "an international operator discovered a bolt with a missing nut while performing routine maintenance on a mechanism in the rudder control linkage," reads a note issued by the FAA. The inspections will take about two hours per aircraft and all new 737 Max aircraft will be inspected before being delivered to customers, Boeing said. The aircraft was back in operation in early 2023, four away from the two plane crashes that claimed 346 lives between 2018 and 2019.