In the wake of the doors coming off an Alaskan Airlines flight, United Airlines decided to inspect their Boeing 737 Max 9 plug doors.
According to reports, the airline company found loose bolts and other parts on at least five of their aircraft.
The National Transportation Safety Board said that the plug covering an unused exit door blew out just minutes into an evening flight.
The plane was just weeks old and was delivered in October.
From CBS News:
The flight from Portland, Oregon to Ontario, California was minutes into its journey and had reached approximately 16,000 feet when the door plug blew off, an NTSB official said during a Saturday press briefing. The gaping hole in the side of the jet opened up where Boeing fits a plug to cover an emergency exit that the airline doesn’t use, The Associated Press explained.
Homendy called the event an “accident, not an incident.” She said the plane was forced to return to Portland International Airport just minutes after takeoff “after a mid-cabin door plug … departed the airplane, resulting in rapid decompression.”
The two seats next to the part that tore off were unoccupied, Homendy said. None of the 171 passengers or six crew members suffered serious injuries, Homendy said. The NTSB said Sunday that the plane didn’t sustain any structural damage.
The Federal Aviation Administration has grounded all of the Boeing 737 Max 9s until they are satisfied that they are safe to fly.
There has been a scramble by authorities to find the missing door plug, which has been located.
“I’m excited to announce that we found the door plug,” National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said.
NTSB has recovered the door plug from Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 Boeing 737-9 MAX. NTSB investigators are currently examining the door plug and will send it to the NTSB Materials Laboratory in Washington, DC for further examination. pic.twitter.com/fqeemNeBPW
— NTSB Newsroom (@NTSB_Newsroom) January 8, 2024
Two cell phones that belonged to passengers were also found.
This is not looking good for Boeing https://t.co/kvqNk40tSQ
— Saagar Enjeti (@esaagar) January 8, 2024
