This is not an isolated problem. The inspections launched by the companies United Airlines and Alaska Airlines have detected defects in some of the Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft immobilized after the incident on the flight from Portland (Oregon) to Ontario (California) last Friday. In it, a panel that covers a gap that in other configurations is used as an emergency door detached from the plane, with its interior coating and insulating material leaving a gap in the fuselage in mid-flight. Inspection work continues.
United Airlines, which has 79 aircraft of that variant of the 737 Max, was the first to report on Monday afternoon that it had found somewhat loose bolts and other “installation problems” in the panels that cover the space reserved for emergency doors. . “Since we began preliminary inspections on Saturday, we have found cases that appear to be related to installation issues in the door panel, for example, bolts that needed to be tightened further. “These findings will be remedied by our operations technology team to safely return the aircraft to service,” the Chicago-based airline said in a statement.
Alaska Airlines later said that while it was still waiting for final documentation from Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to begin the formal inspection process, it had already found signs of defects. “As our maintenance technicians began preparing our 737-9 Max fleet for inspections, they entered the area in question. The first reports from our technicians indicate that some components were loose on some aircraft,” he said. the company whose plane suffered the incident through a statement.
When the company is able to proceed with the formal inspection process, all aircraft will be thoroughly inspected in accordance with detailed instructions provided by the FAA in consultation with Boeing, Alaska Airlines explains. “Any findings will be addressed in a manner that satisfies our safety standards and FAA compliance. Formal inspections will also require all findings to be documented and reported to the FAA. No aircraft will be returned to service until all of these steps have been completed. The safety of these aircraft is our priority and we will take the time and measures necessary to ensure their airworthiness, in close collaboration with the FAA,” their statement concludes.
Authorities have revealed that Alaska Airlines had decided to restrict the use of the plane that suffered the problem and stop using it for flights to Hawaii after a warning light came on that could have indicated a pressurization problem on three different flights. The company stopped using it on long flights over water so that the plane “could return very quickly to an airport” if necessary, Jennifer Homendy, chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), explained Sunday. acronym in English), at a press conference. Some experts have questioned whether the company would continue operating the plane after these warnings if it did not trust the device enough to allow it to cross the sea safely.
That this is not an isolated case is a setback for Boeing, which is trying to forget the nightmare it experienced with the 737 Max 8, another version of the manufacturer. The two catastrophic accidents of that other version in 2019 unleashed an unprecedented crisis at Boeing. The company was recovering from that setback and the slowdown in demand derived from the pandemic when this new crisis arrived, which it hopes will be much more contained. Boeing shares suffered a drop of 8% on the stock market this Monday, the equivalent of a loss in value of about 12 billion dollars (about 11 billion euros) for the company.
Meeting at Boeing
“While the operators carry out the required inspections, we remain in close contact with them and will help them resolve any and all findings. We are committed to ensuring that every Boeing aircraft meets design specifications and the highest safety and quality standards. “We regret the impact this has had on our customers and their passengers,” the manufacturer said this Monday in a statement.
The current president and CEO of Boeing, Dave Calhoun, wants to take the bull by the horns and has invited employees to participate in a company-wide telematic meeting focused on safety, which will be held this Tuesday, January 9 from the Boeing factory in Renton, Washington. In the call message, Calhoun states: “When serious accidents like this occur, it is essential that we work transparently with our customers and regulators to understand and address the causes of the event and ensure they are not repeated. This is and should be the focus of our team right now.”
The idea is to focus the meeting on the company's response to the accident and to reinforce the messages of commitment to safety, quality, integrity and transparency. “Although in recent years we have made progress in strengthening our safety management and quality control systems and processes, situations like this remind us that we must remain focused on continuing to improve every day,” says Calhoun.
The immobilization of the nearly 144 Air 737 Max 9 aircraft used by Alaska and United has caused hundreds of flight cancellations in both companies, the only ones in the United States that have them in their fleet. In total there are 215 aircraft of the 737 MAX 9 variant operational, according to data provided by the consulting firm Cirium to EL PAÍS. Apart from the 65 of Alaska Airlines and the 79 of United Airlines, the Panamanian Copa has 29, and the Mexican Aeroméxico, 20. Turkish Airlines has 5 and the rest are widely distributed among a few other companies.
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