NEW YORK: United-Alaska Airlines reports loose components on 737 Max aircraft

New York, United States: United and Alaska Airlines both reported on Monday that loose hardware was found on some of their Boeing 737 Max 9 planes during initial inspections following a dramatic mid-flight incident last week.

The revelations come as US federal transportation inspectors continue to investigate why a so-called door plug component exploded on an Alaska Airlines passenger plane last Friday, forcing it to make an emergency landing.

United said Monday that it had found “instances that appear to be related to installation issues with the door plugs – for example, bolts that required additional tightening.”

A few hours later, Alaska Airlines announced that its employees had discovered that “some aircraft had what appeared to be loose hardware.”

Shares of Boeing fell on Monday as investors began assessing the financial impacts of the incident, while U.S. aviation officials provided protocols for airlines to investigate planes with the same configuration as the 737 Max 9 plane involved in Friday’s incident. Did it.

Hundreds of flights have been canceled due to the grounding of a portion of the MAX fleet.

“As operators conduct the necessary inspections, we remain in close contact with them and will help address any and all findings,” Boeing said late Monday.

“We are committed to ensuring that every Boeing airplane meets design specifications and the highest safety and quality standards. “We regret the impact this has had on our customers and their passengers.”

Aviation analysts said the issue appears to be a quality control problem rather than a design issue, similar to the flawed flight management system problem involved in two fatal Max crashes in 2018 and 2019.

But Boeing has grappled with supply chain and quality control problems since the MAX returned to service, limiting its production and hurting its bottom line.

In December, after an international operator discovered bolts with missing nuts during routine maintenance, Boeing urged airlines to conduct additional inspections to check for loose hardware on aircraft rudder control systems.

inspection protocol

With 79 Max 9 aircraft, United has the largest fleet of aircraft in the group.

“We are working to return our Boeing 737 Max 9 to service in the coming days,” United said in a statement.

United has canceled 200 MAX 9 flights since the incident and expects “significant cancellations” on Tuesday, the carrier said.

Following the Alaska Airlines incident, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered operators to ground 171 jets with similar configurations with door plugs.

A door plug is a cover panel used to fill redundant emergency exits in aircraft with smaller seat configurations.

On Monday, the FAA announced it had approved a roadmap for carriers to complete inspections that include both left and right door plugs, components and fasteners.

Alaska Airlines said it is still awaiting “final documentation” from Boeing and the FAA before starting the formal inspection process.

“The safety of these aircraft is our priority and we will take the time and steps necessary to ensure their airworthiness in close partnership with the FAA,” Alaska said.

Aeromexico, which has suspended 19 planes, said it was in the “final stages” of inspections, adding: “We expect all MAX-9s in our fleet to return to operations in the coming days.”

culture challenge

The incident is the latest blow to the manufacturer, particularly on the 737 Max.

The worst were two crashes – a Lion Air flight in October 2018, and an Ethiopian Airlines flight in March 2019 – which killed a total of 346 people and triggered the grounding of all 737 MAX aircraft for nearly two years.

Boeing Chief Executive Dave Calhoun called a company-wide meeting Tuesday focused on safety, saying the company has made progress, but “situations like this are a reminder that we have to focus on continuing to improve every day.” Must be focused,” he said in a message. to staff.

Analysts said Alaska Airlines’ problems may have arisen from a manufacturing defect.

Since the crashes, Boeing has repeatedly slowed or suspended production on both the Max and the larger 787 Dreamliner due to problems uncovered by employees before the incident in the sky.

Richer, Managing Director of Aerodynamic Advisory