Boeing Alaska Airlines Incident
The Federal Aviation Administration has recommended visual inspections of door plugs on Boeing 737-900ER planes following an incident involving the 737 Max 9 model. The FAA has grounded the 737 Max 9 fleet and is investigating Boeing's compliance with safety standards.
What to Know
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued a safety alert advising airlines to conduct visual inspections of door plugs on Boeing 737-900ER planes, which share the same design as the grounded 737 Max 9 model.
The 737 Max 9 fleet was grounded after a door panel blew off an Alaska Airlines flight on January 5. The FAA is investigating if Boeing failed to ensure the jet's safety and adherence to approved design.
Door plugs serve as panels in place of emergency doors when a plane has additional seats. The FAA currently does not identify any problems with the 737-900ER door plugs.
Why a Panel Tore Off
On January 5, an Alaska Airlines flight experienced a blown-off door panel on a Boeing 737 Max 9 plane shortly after takeoff. The incident prompted the grounding of the entire 737 Max 9 fleet and a subsequent investigation into Boeing's compliance with safety standards.
The specific cause of the blown-off panel has yet to be determined. The National Transportation Safety Board is currently investigating the incident to identify the underlying reasons.
Had the incident occurred at the plane's cruising altitude, the consequences could have been far more severe.
Missing Plane Piece Retrieved
The door panel that detached from the Alaska Airlines flight has been recovered. The National Transportation Safety Board now has the piece to aid in their investigation into the incident, seeking to determine the causes and contributing factors.
By analyzing the retrieved plane piece, investigators hope to gain insights that will help prevent similar incidents in the future and ensure the safety of passengers and crew on Boeing planes.
The investigation is still ongoing, and further details about the findings are yet to be released.
Cockpit Recording Erased
The cockpit recording from the Alaska Airlines flight, which experienced the blown-off panel, has been erased due to a malfunction in the aircraft's data system. This deletion could potentially hamper the investigation into the incident.
The National Transportation Safety Board is concerned about the missing cockpit recording as it may have contained crucial information that could have shed light on what transpired during the flight. However, other sources of evidence are being examined to piece together the sequence of events.
It remains to be seen how the absence of the cockpit recording will impact the investigation's ability to determine the cause of the blown-off panel.
