Global airlines suspend Boeing 737 MAX 9 operations temporarily amid safety concerns

In the wake of an incident involving a Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft in the United States, an increasing number of airlines are halting operations of this model. The incident occurred on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, where a section of the fuselage skin was ripped off mid-flight. On January 7, Turkish Airlines announced that it had recalled five Boeing 737 MAX 9s of the same model for safety inspections, as reported by the Deutsche Welle, citing the AFP News Agency.

Turkish Airlines is not the only carrier to suspend the use of the Boeing 737 MAX 9. Aeromexico and Panama’s Copa Airlines have also temporarily halted operations of these aircraft.

U.S. Federal Aviation Administration calls for inspection

Following the incident on Flight 1282, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) called for an inspection of a specific modification of the Boeing 737 MAX 9. This inspection pertains to 171 aircraft. In response, United Airlines, one of only two companies in the U.S. operating the Boeing 737 MAX 9, recalled its fleet. The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) also temporarily suspended authorization for the use of this Boeing model in EU airspace.

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On January 7, United Airlines reported that 33 out of 45 grounded aircraft had passed the necessary inspection and resumed operations, according to Reuters. Some of the Alaska Airlines planes were also returned to service. The specifics of the inspection and potential causes of the Flight 1282 incident have not been disclosed, but it is noted that the inspection process takes less than eight hours.

Mid-flight incident leads to emergency landing

The incident that triggered the latest round of Boeing 737 inspections took place in the evening of January 5, local time, over the U.S. state of Oregon. The aircraft, en route from Portland to California, had a fuselage element with a porthole torn out 20 minutes into the flight.

As reported by Daryo, the torn piece was a “door plug” - a part of the aircraft’s skin installed where an emergency exit was initially planned but later abandoned in the final configuration of the aircraft.

The aircraft returned to Portland airport for an emergency landing. A teenager seated next to the torn-out skin section was slightly injured due to cabin depressurization, but no other injuries were reported.

Boeing acknowledges previous issues with 737 MAX 8

The Boeing 737 MAX 8 and 9 are among the newest models of the Boeing 737 MAX, with the first entering service in 2017. However, in October 2018, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 crashed off the coast of Java Island, drawing the attention of aviation regulators. A few months later, in March 2019, another Boeing 737 MAX 8 crashed in Ethiopia.

In both cases, a defect in the operation of the automated Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) was identified as one of the causes of the crashes. The MCAS is designed to prevent dangerous nose-down attitudes during flight, but in abnormal situations, it could forcefully lower the aircraft’s nose, potentially causing the aircraft to dive, according to U.S. regulators.

Boeing acknowledged the existence of the defect and paid $2.51bn in 2021 to settle a criminal case with the U.S. Justice Department. The company compensated the families of crash victims with $1.45mn each.

 

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