Boeing Max grounding goes global as carriers follow FAA order
THE Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has ordered the temporary grounding and inspections of some Boeing Co 737 Max 9 aircraft, a day after a fuselage section on a brand-new Alaska Airlines jet blew out shortly after takeoff, leaving a gaping hole.
The move affects about 171 planes worldwide, said the FAA. Alaska, the world’s second-biggest operator of the type, had already grounded its Max 9 fleet in the wake of Friday’s incident after takeoff from Portland, Oregon.
United Airlines Holdings Inc, the model’s top operator, Alaska Airlines and Aeromexico took all their Max 9 jets out of service for inspections; Panama’s Copa Airlines said it was grounding 21 of the planes.
“Safety will continue to drive our decision-making as we assist the NTSB’s investigation into Alaska Airlines Flight 1282,” FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said in a post on X. NTSB is the National Transportation Safety Board.
The forced grounding marks the most severe response to an incident since the manufacturer’s entire fleet of Max aircraft was temporarily taken out of service in 2019 following two deadly crashes. The 737 Max is by far Boeing’s most popular aircraft, and its biggest source of revenue, with single-aisle jets like the Max and the corresponding Airbus SE A320neo family used on the most widely flown, shorter routes.
Only two US airlines operate the 737 Max 9 variant: United with 79, and Alaska with 65. Alaska said late Saturday that it was pulling all its 737-9 Max jets – including 18 that had recently undergone inspections as part of regular checks and were returned to service – pending details of possible additional maintenance work required by the FAA. There was no guarantee if further work will be required before the jets return to service, and disruption to travel is expected to last through mid-week, the carrier said.
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United, which earlier said 33 of its Max 9 jets already had the inspection required by the FAA, grounded all of the planes as it works to clarify the inspection process and requirements needed to return them to service. “We are working directly with impacted customers to find them alternative travel options,” the airline said in a statement.
Flight 1282 was carrying 171 passengers and six crew from Portland, Oregon, to Ontario, California, last Friday (Jan 5) when the crew reported a pressurisation issue. What followed was a rear left part of the fuselage blowing out, leaving a hole resembling the opening for a door. The aircraft returned to Portland about 20 minutes after takeoff, having reached an altitude of about 16,000 feet.
Inside the aircraft, which was delivered to Alaska Airlines only in October, part of the cabin wall had also torn off, exposing insulation material, images on social media showed. Video footage showed the aircraft landing in Portland in darkness, with passengers seated close to the gaping hole. Nobody was seriously injured.
“A mini boom or mini explosion rattled and kind of shook the plane,” said Nicholas Hoch, a 33-year-old architect who was on the plane, adding that there was an instantaneous depressurisation of the cabin. “The best way I can describe it is as this white vapour or cloud just rushed through the plane and, you know, blew my head back a little bit. My hat flew off and that was jarring, to say the least.”
The cabin lights flickered and air masks dropped from the ceiling, he said. No one was sitting in two seats next to where the door blew out, or “this story would have been a lot different”, he added. The decompression sucked the shirt off of a teenage boy in the row before, leaving him with some abrasions. Others nearby lost cell phones, ear buds and other items as air left the cabin, he said.
China’s aviation regulator is conducting an emergency meeting to consider a response to the incident, including a possible grounding of the Boeing Max fleet in the country, said two sources on condition of anonymity. The aircraft variant involved in the Alaska Air incident isn’t flown by Chinese carriers.
China was the first country to ground the 737 Max after the two crashes several years ago. Relations have only gradually improved, with China taking the first delivery of a larger 787 model in several years in December. It has yet to resume 737 deliveries.
The NTSB is also investigating the matter. Boeing said it supports the FAA move and that it was in close touch with the regulator and with customers.
Inspections are expected to be completed in the next few days, Alaska Air Group chief executive officer Ben Minicucci said.
Missing door part found
The NTSB said late on Sunday that the “key missing component” from the Boeing 737 Max 9 jet in that Alaska Airlines case had been recovered from the backyard of a suburban home.
It was found in the Cedar Hills neighbourhood on Sunday by a Portland school teacher identified only as “Bob”, whose backyard it landed in, NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said, saying she was “very relieved” it had been found.
She had earlier told reporters the aircraft part was a “key missing component” to determine why the accident occurred.
“Our structures team will want to look at everything on the door – all the components on the door, to look at witness marks, to look at any paint transfer, what shape the door was in when found. That can tell them a lot about what occurred,” she said.
Boeing shares fall
Boeing shares listed in Frankfurt fell as much as 8 per cent on Monday (Jan 8) after the FAA’s move to temporarily ground some Boeing 737 Max 9 jets.
Shares in rival manufacturer Airbus were up 2 per cent on the Tradegate platform.
Airbus will announce this week that it delivered 735 planes last year, beating Boeing to remain the world’s largest planemaker for the fifth year in a row, industry sources said.
Airbus has declined comment on its annual performance ahead of a commercial update on Jan 11.
Boeing competes with Airbus, which has extended gains in market share since two Boeing Max crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed nearly 350 people and led to the Max’s worldwide grounding for 20 months. BLOOMBERG, REUTERS
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