08 January 2024 , 21:46
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United Airlines have said it found loose bolts during inspections of its 737 Max 9 fleet.
Airlines had been ordered by the Federal Aviation Administration to ground their 737 Max 9s after a section of the fuselage of an Alaskan Airlines flight exploded mid-air forcing the plane into an emergency landing.
Over 170 Boeing 737 Max 9 aircrafts were grounded after the incident as inspections were carried out to ascertain the cause of the major malfunction. 200 Alaska Airline flights were also cancelled as a result, with cancellations set to continue through the week.
"Since we began preliminary inspections on Saturday, we have found instances that appear to relate to installation issues in the door plug -- for example, bolts that needed additional tightening," United said in a statement. "These findings will be remedied by our Tech Ops team to safely return the aircraft to service."
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Members of the NTSB examine the hole in the fuselage plug area of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 (Getty Images)The Boeing jetliner that suffered the inflight blowout over Oregon was not being used for flights to Hawaii after a warning light that could have indicated a pressurization problem lit up on three different flights, a federal official said Sunday.
Alaska Airlines decided to restrict the aircraft from long flights over water so the plane “could return very quickly to an airport” if the warning light reappeared, said Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board.
Homendy cautioned that the pressurization light might be unrelated to Friday’s incident in which a plug covering an unused exit door blew off the Boeing 737 Max 9 as it cruised about three miles (4.8 kilometers) over Oregon.
In this National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) handout, plastic covers the exterior of the fuselage plug area of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 Boeing 737-9 MAX (Getty Images)The warning light came on during three previous flights: on Dec. 7, Jan. 3 and Jan. 4 — the day before the door plug broke off. Homendy said she didn’t have all the details regarding the Dec. 7 incident but specified the light came on during a flight on Jan. 3 and on Jan. 4 after the plane had landed.
The NTSB said the lost door plug was found Sunday near Portland, Oregon, by a school teacher — for now, known only as Bob — who discovered it in his backyard and sent two photos to the safety board. 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 free.
A door-sized section near the rear of the Boeing 737-9 MAX plane blew off 10 minutes after takeoff (Getty Images)
Investigators will not have the benefit of hearing what was going on in the cockpit during the flight. The cockpit voice recorder — one of two so-called black boxes — recorded over the flight’s sounds after two hours, Homendy said.
At a news conference Sunday night, Homendy provided new details about the chaotic scene that unfolded on the plane. The explosive rush of air damaged several rows of seats and pulled insulation from the walls. The cockpit door flew open and banged into a lavatory door.