(Portland) The Boeing jetliner whose door came loose over Oregon was no longer being used for flights to Hawaii due to warnings from a cabin air pressure system, but Alaska Airlines continued to fly it over land, raising questions about whether the plane should have been in the air.
Warning lights were triggered on three flights, including two days before the incident in Oregon on a new Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft Friday evening.
Maintenance crews checked the plane and cleared it for flight, but Alaska Airlines decided to ban the plane from long flights over water so that the plane “could return very quickly to an airport” if the warning light reappears, Jennifer Homendy, chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), said Sunday.
Mme Homendy warned that the air pressure light may not be linked to Friday’s incident in which a panel covering an unused exit door exploded while the Boeing 737 Max 9 was flying about 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) above sea level. above Oregon.
Friday’s flight was headed from Oregon to Southern California and returned to Portland without causing any serious injuries among the 171 passengers and six crew members. But the decision to allow it to fly over land seemed illogical to some aviation experts.
“If you are afraid to take the plane far from land, what is the reason? Alaska Airlines needs to answer this question,” said Steven Wallace, an aviation safety consultant and commercial pilot who has led accident investigations for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The FAA grounded all Max 9s operated by Alaska and United and some flown by foreign airlines for inspection after Friday night’s flight.
The inspections focus on plugs used to seal an area reserved for additional emergency doors that are not needed on United and Alaska’s Max 9 aircraft.
Loose bolts
On Monday afternoon, United Airlines said it found loose bolts and other “installation issues” on door plugs that were inspected after the Alaska Airlines incident.
“Since we began preliminary inspections on Saturday, we have found cases that appear to be related to installation issues in the door stopper, such as bolts that required additional tightening,” Chicago-based United said.
Boeing, which has had its share of problems with various planes over the years, has pledged to “help address any findings” made by airlines during their inspections.
The FAA declined to comment on whether the Alaska Airlines plane in question should have been allowed to continue flying. The agency said “it would be premature” to comment as the NTSB investigates Friday night’s theft.
Seattle-based Alaska Airlines also declined to comment, saying it would need permission from the NTSB to discuss the plane and its maintenance history. “We will provide information as soon as the NTSB allows us to do so,” the airline said.
On Monday, the FAA approved guidelines for inspecting door plugs on other Max 9 jets and repairing them, if necessary. The move is expected to speed the return to service of 171 planes that the FAA grounded Saturday under an emergency order.
Alaska Airlines owns 64 other Max 9s and United Airlines owns 79. No other U.S. airline operates this Boeing 737 model.
Boeing’s stock fell 8%, while that of Spirit AeroSystems, which makes the fuselage for Boeing’s 737 Max, plunged 11% on Monday, the first day on the stock market since the incident. Shares of Alaska Airlines were almost unchanged after sliding earlier in the session.
The light came on during three previous flights: December 7, January 3 and January 4 – the day before the panel broke. Mme Homendy said she did not have all the details regarding the Dec. 7 incident, but said the light came on during flights Jan. 3 and Jan. 4 after the plane landed.
The NTSB said the door was found Sunday near Portland, Oregon, by a teacher – for now known only as Bob – who discovered it in his backyard and sent two photos to the safety committee.
During a press conference on Sunday evening, Mr.me Homendy said a strong surge of air damaged several rows of seats and ripped insulation from the walls. The cockpit door opened and hit the lavatory door.
Two cell phones that appeared to belong to passengers on Friday’s flight were found on the ground. One was discovered in a courtyard, the other on the side of a road. Both were turned over to the NTSB.
In particular, investigators will examine the panel for signs indicating how it broke free.
Investigators will not be able to hear what happened in the cockpit during the flight. The cabin’s voice recorder – one of two black boxes – recorded over the sounds of the flight after two hours, M saidme Homendy.
Canceled flights
As of Monday morning, Alaska Airlines was forced to cancel 20% of all flights, or 141 in total. United canceled 221 flights, or 8% of its total flights scheduled Monday.
Boeing Chairman and CEO Dave Calhoun convened a company-wide webcast Tuesday to discuss the incident with employees and senior management.
The Max is the latest version of Boeing’s venerable 737, a twin-engine, single-aisle aircraft frequently used on U.S. domestic flights. The aircraft entered service in May 2017.
Two Max 8 planes crashed in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people. All Max 8 and Max 9 planes were grounded worldwide for nearly two years until Boeing made changes to an automated flight control system implicated in the crashes.
The Max has been plagued by other problems, including manufacturing defects, concerns about overheating that led the FAA to ask pilots to limit the use of an anti-icing system, and a possible loose bolt in the rudder system.