FAA grounds 737 Max 9 Aircraft Indefinitely after Alaska Airlines incident

Hmmm, I had come to the view that with all the attention and pressure on Boeing after the two initial crashes that they should be now amongst the least riskiest to fly.

I think now I will avoid flying on this type for another 1-2 years.

Bad news for VA fleet renewal and me flying with them
 
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moa999 said:
Inactive/ plugged or not.. emergency doors shouldn't be able to blow out while flying, the external pressure is meant to keep them tight.
Click to expand...
Only if it's a plug type door. Or a door at all.

I'll bet the person who was in that seat on the previous sector is counting their lucky stars. Cruise was at FL340 for most of the way across the continent.

The image (Alaska Airlines grounds Boeing 737-9 fleet after plane’s window blows out midair) seems to show a bunch of attachment points, with bolts still present.
 
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Clearly the door was not ‘plugged’ as specified. Seems the ‘max’ means maximum issues. I hope this is a once off isolated issue.

Blessed no one was severely injured.
 
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We are lucky in Australia to be able to avoid these aircraft. QF Group and Rex are not touching any MAX variant .

There was also a post a while ago (months) that VA2 will let you move off their MAX flights to another for free - but has anyone on AFF actually tested this??
 
Wow…

US regulator investigates, grounds all Boeing 737-9 Max jetliners​


US officials have ordered the immediate grounding of Boeing 737-9 Max jetliners after an Alaska Airlines plane suffered a blowout that left a gaping hole in the side of the fuselage

Major US airline, United Airlines, said it will also temporarily suspend flights.

Mandatory inspections will affect about 171 airplanes worldwide.

The Max is the newest version of Boeing's 737, a twin-engine, single-aisle plane frequently used on US domestic flights.

Two Max 8 jets crashed in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people and leading to a near two-year worldwide grounding of all Max 8 and Max 9 planes.

www.abc.net.au

Some Boeing 737-9 Max jetliners return to air after Alaska Airlines blowout

The Boeing model is grounded in the US after Alaska Airline pilots were forced to make an emergency landing when a blowout caused a gaping hole in the side of the plane.
www.abc.net.au www.abc.net.au
 
‘Manufacturing issue’ and Boeing are words appearing all too frequently in relation to their new aircraft.

Other relevant modern trends for Boeing would seem to be:
- priority of profit over engineering excellence
- using cheaper and potentially less ‘focussed’ workforce
 
Harrison_133 said:
Alaska has returned 18 MAX-9s to service, after it was determined they "had in-depth and thorough plug door inspections performed as part of a recent heavy maintenance visit."

United also returned 33 MAX-9s to service that have already received the inspections required by the FAA.

news.alaskaair.com

Information about Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 and our 737-9 MAX fleet - Alaska Airlines News

Latest updates & information can be found here.
news.alaskaair.com news.alaskaair.com
Click to expand...

Hmmm given this incident a cynic may say their "in depth and thorough inspections" may have been of their coffee cups in the tearoom.
 
RSVKanga said:
If there was one thing to thank the Joyce Administration for, it would be them not committing to the 737 MAX family for their long-term workhorse renewal and going in favour of the well-respected and reliable alternative instead.
Click to expand...
Yes - the Aircraft they already had.

Mainly luck - the Joyce administration was averse to purchasing any new airframes.

The only new aircraft to arrive for Qantas in the decade since 2014 were 787's and a recent A220.
 
jakeseven7 said:
Wow…

US regulator investigates, grounds all Boeing 737-9 Max jetliners​


US officials have ordered the immediate grounding of Boeing 737-9 Max jetliners after an Alaska Airlines plane suffered a blowout that left a gaping hole in the side of the fuselage

Major US airline, United Airlines, said it will also temporarily suspend flights.

Mandatory inspections will affect about 171 airplanes worldwide.

The Max is the newest version of Boeing's 737, a twin-engine, single-aisle plane frequently used on US domestic flights.

Two Max 8 jets crashed in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people and leading to a near two-year worldwide grounding of all Max 8 and Max 9 planes.

www.abc.net.au

Some Boeing 737-9 Max jetliners return to air after Alaska Airlines blowout

The Boeing model is grounded in the US after Alaska Airline pilots were forced to make an emergency landing when a blowout caused a gaping hole in the side of the plane.
www.abc.net.au www.abc.net.au
Click to expand...
Seems the last ordeal Boeing got out the accountability for what happened with a speeding fine.

I wonder how the current issue will add to the mix.

https://www.npr.org/2023/01/26/1151565489/boeing-criminal-fraud-charge-737-max-crashes
 
serfty said:
Yes - the Aircraft they already had.

Mainly luck - the Joyce administration was averse to purchasing any new airframes.

The only new aircraft to arrive in the last decade were 787's.
Click to expand...
I’m sure public perception and actual risk of the 737 Max lemon issue would have played a part on the tendering decision.

If Qantas accepted the 737 max in the fleet and something happened, it’s a direct hit to profits as the public perception of this aircraft is wounded.

With this latest incident the public will be reminded and fear will again rise for good reason.
 
serfty said:
Mainly luck - the Joyce administration was averse to purchasing any new airframes.

The only new aircraft to arrive for Qantas in the last decade were 787's.
Click to expand...
Agreed. An average fleet age of 16 years is simply unacceptable. I’d like them to push through on their rumoured plans to acquire additional not-taken-up/ex-Bamboo 787s currently available to make the situation slightly better.
 
serfty said:
Yes, Qantas went for narrow body Airbus types two years ago, well after MAX issues became apparent.


My comment was more in relation to that Qantas were not putting in orders for any narrow bodies a decade ago; so of course they were not getting any MAX's.
Click to expand...
The fact that Qantas has ordered A320neo family aircraft for Jetstar in the past doesn’t have much significance. Qantas and the Joyce Administration defended the 737MAX immediately after the ET302 crash and said it’s possible that Qantas will place a MAX order soon to replace its 737NGs. Obviously the airline and the Australian travelling public would be glad that they changed paths sometime during 2020-21.
 
Yet another B737 "enhancement" for operator efficiency, give me an older version any day.
 

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