Southwest Airlines is removing the Boeing 737 Max 7 from its 2024 fleet plans due to certification delays.
06.01.2024 - 12:53 / skift.com
Alaska Airlines will temporarily ground its fleet of 65 Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft after a cabin panel blowout forced a jetliner loaded with passengers to make an emergency landing on Friday, CEO Ben Minicucci said.
Minicucci said in a statement that the aircraft will be returned to service only after maintenance and safety inspections, which he expected to be completed in the “next few days”. He described the move as a precautionary step.
Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, which had been bound for Ontario, California, suffered the incident soon after departing at 5:06 p.m. Pacific Time and landed safely back at Portland, Oregon, at 5:26 p.m. with 171 passengers and six crew, according to the airline and Flightradar24 data.
Exterior photos of the aircraft appeared to show that a panel that can be used for a rear mid-cabin exit door had separated from the aircraft, Flightradar24 and safety analysts said. Social media posts showed a window and portion of a side wall missing on the airplane, and oxygen masks deployed.
“While this type of occurrence is rare, our flight crew was trained and prepared to safely manage the situation,” Alaska said.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it was investigating the depressurization incident. The Federal Aviation Administration also said the crew had reported a pressurization issue, and that it would investigate.
The new MAX 9 was delivered to Alaska Airlines in late October and certified in early November, according to FAA data.
Boeing said in a statement it was looking into the emergency landing.
“We are aware of the incident involving Alaska Airlines Flight 1282,” the company said. “We are working to gather more information and are in contact with our airline customer. A Boeing technical team stands ready to support the investigation.”
The MAX 9 features a rear cabin door behind the wings that can be activated in dense seating configurations to meet evacuation requirements, Flightradar24 said.
However, those doors are permanently “plugged”, or deactivated, on Alaska Airlines jets.
The optional door is inherited from an earlier model, the 737-900ER. Several operators of that model that do not need the extra seats opted for the door space to be plugged before delivery, reducing weight and making the cabin more flexible.
Boeing and Alaska Airlines did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the door.
Importance of Seatbelts
The aircraft reached a maximum altitude of 16,325 feet during the flight, data show.
“Whenever you have a rapid decompression such as this, it’s a major safety event,” said Anthony Brickhouse, an air safety expert at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
“I can’t imagine what these passengers experienced. It would have been
Southwest Airlines is removing the Boeing 737 Max 7 from its 2024 fleet plans due to certification delays.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has laid out a path for the beleaguered Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft to return to service as soon as Friday after a mid-air blowout grounded the planes.
The Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday it is halting any production expansion of the Boeing 737 Max, after a door plug suddenly fell off an Alaska Airlines jet.
It appears Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft will begin returning to the skies in the coming days after the planes were grounded in the wake of a harrowing incident on an Alaska Airlines flight earlier this month in which a door plug explosively blew out of an aircraft during flight.
Based on its inspection of the first 40 of more than 170 jets, the Federal Aviation Administration appears ready to allow the Boeing 737 Max 9 back in the air.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will keep the beleaguered Boeing 737-9 Max planes grounded until it approves the aircraft manufacturer’s inspection and maintenance process.
Alaska Airlines has begun preliminary inspections on some of its Boeing 737-9 Max aircrafts this weekend, adding that up to 20 planes could undergo inspection, the company said on Saturday.
Alaska Airlines said it will extend its cancellation of Boeing 737 Max 9 flights through Tuesday, Jan. 16, for planes that have been grounded since last week’s mid-air cabin panel blowout.
Some Seattle fliers are switching their trips to Delta Air Lines as hometown carrier Alaska Airlines’ schedule takes a hit from the latest Boeing 737 Max grounding.
Mother Nature is making for a messy start to the long weekend.
The Boeing 737 Max 9 grounding in response to the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 plug door incident on January 5, 2024, has caused many travelers to reconsider travel plans. Below are some of the latest developments and actions that air passengers can implement.
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