Boeing’s Latest Blunder: The 737 Max 9 Gets Grounded After Another Major Malfunction
News footage of missing door plug on Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9
In a previous article I covered the two deadly crashes of 737 Max planes after a flight control system pilots did not have adequate training on failed and the entire fleet grounded. An attitude of corporate greed and negligence were the contributing factors to these disasters and when the planes went back in the air Boeing assured everyone they would be safer but some still had their doubts. They were right to. It was only a matter of time before another major incident occurred and this time it was not a flight control system but a section of the plane that blew off in midair. Fortunately no one was killed this time but from what investigators have been discovering, once again this could have been prevented.
It was the 145th flight of this plane and six minutes after it took off a door plug, put in place instead of an emergency exit door, blew off the plane. Fortunately no one was sitting where this plug was located but a nearby passenger literally had his shirt blow off when the the plane depressurized! Many passengers have released cell phone footage of the incident so we can see what was going on and some of them started sending messages home fearing the worst. The pilots were forced to make an emergency landing and get themselves, the crew and passengers to safety. Yet on three occasions prior to this flight pilots reported pressurization warnings. Three warnings? The response: the plane was restricted from flying over water so that an emergency landing can be done if needed. Did they forget the two Maxes that went down in 2018 and 2019? We can’t say for sure but this decision certainly raises eyebrows. Why didn’t they just ground it until the issue could be identified?
United Airlines, the largest operator of the MAX 9 in the U.S., with 79 of the aircraft in its fleet, confirmed in a statement to USA TODAY that its preliminary inspections have identified problems on multiple jets.
“Since we began preliminary inspections on Saturday, we have found instances that appear to relate to installation issues in the door plug — for example, bolts that needed additional tightening. These findings will be remedied by our Tech Ops team to safely return the aircraft to service,” the statement said.
Zach Whichter — USA Today
Alaska Airlines was also confirmed to have found installation issues on other jets as well as the one involved in the incident. Two airlines finding multiple defects with jets is not an airline maintenance problem, that is a manufacturer issue and I’ve heard this story before. In Downfall, the Netflix documentary on the Max 8 crashes, former Boeing workers came forward and said this was a common issue at the plants as the company wanted to cut production costs so that they could maximize their profits and rushing to get the job done was the common practice. They vowed to clean up their act. This latest incident proves they’ve learned nothing at all. Families of the Max 8 crash victims still fight for Boeing to face criminal charges and I believe they should because what is happening is criminal. They got lucky the Alaska Airlines passengers survived. The next ones might not be so lucky.
