After three weeks of being grounded, the Boeing 737 Max 9 is returning to service.
09.01.2024 - 21:41 / cntraveler.com / Henry Harteveldt
This is a developing story and will be updated with more information.
All Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft in the US will remain grounded for the time being, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced Monday.
The nationwide directive is in response to a terrifying incident that took place on an Alaska Airline flight Friday. Following a 20-minute delay for de-icing, Flight 1282 took off from Portland, Oregon for Ontario, California with 171 passengers and six crew members. Soon, a refrigerator-sized piece of the plane, which was later found in a Portland schoolteacher’s yard, ripped off the left side of aircraft near row 26, leaving a gaping hole—and causing the cabin to quickly depressurize. Thankfully, no one was sitting in the window or aisle seat, and the plane navigated back to Portland, with everyone on board shaken, but safe. Even an iPhone, which fell thousands of feet from the plane, was later recovered nearly unscathed.
The part of the plane that fell off mid-flight is called a door plug, a piece that covers where an emergency door is normally located. This specific type of Boeing aircraft has an additional emergency exit door built in so that the planes can carry more passengers. But if there aren’t extra seats packed in, the door isn't required—meaning the plug is used in its place, aviation analyst Henry Harteveldt, president of Atmosphere Research Group, tells Condé Nast Traveler. “Astute observers might notice the outline of the door plug, but on the inside, you can’t tell because it has the same sidewall paneling as the rest of the plane,” he says.
In response to the incident, the FAA has grounded all Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft operated by US airlines or in US territory. They will remain grounded “until operators complete enhanced inspections which include both left and right cabin door exit plugs, door components, and fasteners," the FAA says. Before any of the planes take off again, airlines must complete corrective action requirements based on the inspection findings.
As of now, it's unclear how long the Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft will remain grounded. The sudden halt immediately affected airlines using the aircraft, especially United and Alaska, the two carriers with the highest volume of scheduled flights aboard the Boeing model, according to data from aviation analytics company Cirium. Airlines are responding with everything from flight cancellations to reimbursements.
United, which has 79 of the aircraft, canceled 90 flights on Saturday, 180 on Sunday, and about 200 Monday, but were able to “save” about 175 flights by switching to alternative aircraft. The carrier expects “significant cancellations" to continue Tuesday. The airline is offering full refunds or waiving change
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