Claire Rush, David Koenig, Becky Bohler, Associated Press – January 7, 2024 / 7:38pm | Story: 466031
Photo: Canadian Press
A road sign marks the intersection of Burns Road and Oregon State Route 217 in the Cedar Hills neighborhood, just outside the Beaverton suburb of southwest Portland, Oregon, on Sunday, January 7, 2024. The National Transportation Safety Board estimated that part of the aircraft was damaged. Part of a Boeing 737 Max 9 that separated shortly after takeoff from an Alaska Airlines flight on Friday, January 5th may have fallen near an intersection. (AP Photo/Claire Rush)
Alaska Airlines and United Airlines again grounded all Boeing 737 Max 9 jets on Sunday, pending clarification on how to test them to prevent a recurrence. onboard explosion Like the one that damaged the Alaska jet.
Alaska Airlines on Saturday destroyed 18 of its 65 737 Max 9 planes, less than 24 hours after another plane’s fuselage was blown off 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) over Oregon. was returned to service.
The reprieve did not last long.
The company announced on Sunday that it had been notified by the Federal Aviation Administration that additional work may be required on those 18 aircraft.
The state of Alaska said 170 flights, more than a fifth of its scheduled flights, had been canceled by mid-afternoon on the West Coast due to the grounding.
“These aircraft are also currently out of service pending further confirmation with the FAA regarding potential additional maintenance work,” the airline said in a statement. “We are in contact with the FAA to determine if this is necessary.” . ”
United Airlines said Sunday it had grounded about 180 flights and had found and rescued other planes that were not subject to the grounding.
Alaska Airlines and United Airlines are the only U.S. airlines that fly the Max 9.
United Airlines said it is waiting for Boeing to issue a so-called multi-operator message. This is a service bulletin used when multiple airlines need to perform similar work on a particular type of aircraft.
Boeing is working on a bulletin, but had not yet submitted it to the FAA, according to a person familiar with the matter. Detailed technical bulletins often take several days to produce, the person said. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the company and regulators have not publicly discussed the process.
Boeing declined to comment.
Shortly after Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 took off from Portland, Oregon, on Friday night, a panel blocking the Max 9’s emergency exit door exploded. The depressurized plane, carrying 171 passengers and six crew members, returned safely to Portland International Airport without any major injuries.
Hours after the incident, the FAA ordered 171 Max 9 planes, including all operated by Alaska Airlines and United Airlines, grounded until they could be inspected. The FAA says the test will take four to eight hours.
Boeing has delivered 218 Max 9s worldwide, but not all of them are subject to the FAA’s order. They are one of his more than 1,300 Max jetliners (mostly Max 8s) sold by the aircraft manufacturer. The Max 8 and other versions of the Boeing 737 are not affected by the grounding.
Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), chair of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, said she agreed with the decision to ground the Max 9.
“Safety is paramount. Aviation product production must meet gold standards, including quality control inspections and strong FAA oversight,” she said in a statement.
National Transportation Safety Board investigators on Sunday searched an exit door covered in a panel blown out from Flight 1282. They are familiar with the area where the plane landed, near Oregon State Route 217 and Burns Road in the NTSB’s Cedar Hills neighborhood west of Portland. Speaker Jennifer Homendy said at a news conference late Saturday.
“If you see it, please contact your local law enforcement,” she said.
Early Sunday afternoon, some local residents were searching a patch of land with dense brush between a busy road and a light rail station. This area is located across from a large hospital complex.
Searcher Adam Pirkle said he rode his bicycle 14 miles (22 kilometers) through the grass. “I was watching the flight trajectory and watching the wind,” he said. “I’ve been trying to focus on woodland areas.”
After exploring his surroundings from the roof of the parking lot, Daniel Felt equipped himself with binoculars and traveled through the same bush on foot. “I didn’t see any obvious holes where something had fallen into the bushes,” he said.
Two NTSB employees were also on the scene Sunday, along with members of the hospital’s security team, said Lisa Helderop, public relations director for Providence St. Vincent Hospital in the southwest Portland area where the NTSB said the door may have fallen in. He said he looked around the hospital grounds.
There has been no fatal crash involving a U.S. passenger airline in the country since 2009, when a Colgan Airlines flight crashed near Buffalo, New York, killing all 49 people on board and one person on the ground. In 2013, an Asiana Airlines flight arriving from South Korea crashed at San Francisco International Airport, killing three of the 307 people on board.
Flight 1282 took off from Portland at 5:07 p.m. Friday for a two-hour flight to Ontario, California. About six minutes later, part of the plane was blown away at an altitude of about 16,000 feet (4.8 kilometers).one of the pilots declared a state of emergency He requested permission to descend to 10,000 feet (3 kilometers), the altitude at which there is enough oxygen in the air to safely breathe.
Videos posted online by passengers showed a gaping hole where the paneled exit had been and passengers wearing masks. They applauded when the plane landed safely, about 13 minutes after the explosion. Firefighters then came down the aisle and asked passengers to remain seated while the injured were treated.
Homendy said it was very fortunate that the plane had not yet reached cruising altitude and passengers and flight attendants could have been walking around on board.
“No one was sitting in 26A and B, where the door plugs are located. The plane was at an altitude of about 16,000 feet and only 10 minutes from the airport when the doors blew,” she said. Ta. The investigation is expected to take several months.
The aircraft involved came off the assembly line and was certified two months ago, officials said. Online FAA records. Flight Radar 24, another tracking service, says it has operated 145 flights since it began commercial operations on Nov. 11. The flight from Portland was the third plane of the day.
Aviation experts were surprised to see debris flying off the new aircraft. Anthony Brickhouse, a professor of aerospace safety at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, said he’s seen fuselage panels come off planes before, but he doesn’t remember seeing passengers “gazing out at the city lights.” He said there was no.
The Max is the latest version of Boeing’s venerable 737, a twin-engine, single-aisle aircraft frequently used on U.S. domestic flights. This plane entered service in May 2017.
Two Max 8 jets crashed in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people. All Max 8 and Max 9 airplanes are grounded all over the world It lasted almost two years until Boeing made changes to the automatic flight control system that were involved in the crash.
The Max has also been plagued by other problems, including manufacturing defects and overheating concerns that the FAA has told pilots to avoid. restrict use Possibilities of anti-icing systems loose bolt with the rudder system.
