PORTLAND, ORE. – In response to the recent inflight blowout incident that damaged an Alaska Airlines jet, both Alaska Airlines and United Airlines took the precautionary measure of grounding all their Boeing 737 Max 9 jetliners once again on Sunday. The decision was made as the airlines awaited guidance on how to inspect the planes to prevent further incidents.
Alaska Airlines had initially returned 18 of its 65 Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft to service within 24 hours of the incident in Oregon. However, a notice from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Sunday suggested that additional maintenance might be required on those 18 planes. Consequently, Alaska Airlines canceled 170 flights, constituting over one-fifth of its schedule, as the affected planes were once again pulled from service.
United Airlines, the only other U.S. carrier operating the Max 9, also confirmed the grounding and reported the cancellation of around 180 flights on Sunday. The airlines are awaiting a multi-operator message from Boeing, a service bulletin used when multiple carriers need to perform similar work on a particular type of plane.
Boeing, in the process of preparing the bulletin, had not yet submitted it to the FAA at the time of reporting. While detailed technical bulletins typically take a few days to produce, the FAA had ordered the grounding of 171 Max 9s, including those operated by Alaska and United, for inspections lasting four to eight hours.
The recent incident involved a panel used to plug an area reserved for an exit door on an Alaska Airlines flight. The plane depressurized, but the crew successfully landed it safely with no serious injuries to the 171 passengers and six crew members.
Boeing has delivered 218 Max 9s globally, with not all covered by the FAA order. Of the over 1,300 Max jetliners sold by Boeing, the Max 8 and other versions of the 737 remain unaffected.
U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell, chair of the Senate’s Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, expressed support for the decision to ground the Max 9s, emphasizing the importance of safety and quality control inspections.
The incident is under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which is actively searching for the panel that blew out from the affected flight. Despite the disruption caused by the groundings, there has not been a fatal crash involving a U.S. passenger carrier within the country since 2009.
The FAA’s grounding order follows previous incidents involving the Max series, contributing to a temporary worldwide grounding of all Max 8 and Max 9 planes until Boeing implemented changes to an automated flight control system linked to earlier crashes. The current investigation into the Alaska Airlines incident is expected to take months, shedding light on the causes and potential preventative measures for the future.