![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Southwest Airlines and American Airlines operate the smaller 737 Max 8. In addition to United and Alaska Air, other operators include Aeromexico, Turkish Airlines, Icelandair and Panama's Copa Airlines. There are 215 Boeing 737 Max 9 planes in service worldwide, according to aviation-data firm Cirium. The company said it is supporting the NTSB's investigation. "We agree with and fully support the FAA's decision to require immediate inspections of 737-9 airplanes with the same configuration as the affected airplane." "Safety is our top priority and we deeply regret the impact this event has had on our customers and their passengers," Boeing said in a statement on Saturday. Spirit AeroSystems, which makes the fuselages for the 737 Max, confirmed to CNBC that it installed the plugged door on the aircraft. "The doors are not activated on Alaska Airlines aircraft and are permanently 'plugged,'" Flightradar24 said.īoeing didn't comment beyond its statement when asked about the sealed emergency exit door. The Boeing 737 Max 9 has an emergency exit door cut behind the wings for use in dense seating cabin configurations, like those used by budget airlines, according to Flightradar24. ET, Alaska said it canceled 160 flights, affecting 23,000 customers. "We are in touch with the FAA to determine what, if any, further work is required before these aircraft are returned to service," Alaska said.Īs of 7 p.m. On Saturday, the carrier said 18 of the planes "had in-depth and thorough plug door inspections performed as part of a recent heavy maintenance visit," but later said it would temporarily ground them all. "I always advise people on a commercial aircraft, keep your seatbelt on regardless of what the light says," Brickhouse said.īefore the FAA issued its directive, Alaska Airlines earlier said it would ground its fleet of Boeing 737 Max 9 planes. The incident is also a reminder to keep your seatbelt fastened when seated, he added. In aviation safety, we would call this a structural failure." "To see a gaping hole in an aircraft is not something we typically see. "Rapid decompression is a serious matter," he said. The incident was described as "an explosive decompression at the window exit," according to Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, the labor union that represents Alaska's cabin crew and flight attendants at United, Spirit and other carriers.Īnthony Brickhouse, a professor of aerospace safety at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, said such an incident is extremely rare. "We could have ended up with something more tragic," she said. Homendy said no passengers were seated at the seat closest to the panel or the middle seat in the row where the door blew out and added that it was fortunate that the plane was still climbing and not at cruising altitude when travelers and crew could have been standing or walking through the cabin. Chair Jennifer Homendy, at a press briefing in Portland Saturday night, asked the public for help in finding the plane's missing door. The National Transportation Safety Board has started its investigation. The section of the fuselage missing appeared to correspond to an exit not used by Alaska Airlines, or other carriers that don't have high-density seating configurations, and was plugged. Two other models of the Max, the smallest and largest version, have not yet been cleared by the agency to enter commercial service. The FAA has heavily scrutinized the Boeing 737 Max since two fatal crashes grounded the jetliner worldwide almost five years ago. Large-scale groundings of aircraft by the FAA or other aviation authorities are rare. "Safety will continue to drive our decision-making as we assist the NTSB's investigation into Alaska Airlines Flight 1282," FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said in a statement. There were 171 passengers and six crewmembers on board, Alaska Air said. No serious injuries were reported on the flight, according to federal safety officials. territory, the agency said. Alaska and United Airlines said late Saturday that they were grounding their entire fleets of Boeing 737 Max 9s. The FAA's emergency airworthiness directive will affect about 171 planes worldwide and applies to U.S. Personal Loans for 670 Credit Score or Lower Personal Loans for 580 Credit Score or Lower Best Debt Consolidation Loans for Bad Credit ![]()
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