FAA grounds 737 Max 9 Aircraft Indefinitely after Alaska Airlines incident

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very lucky there were no fatalities, brand new max

airlinegeeks.com

Explosive Decompression Reported on Alaska 737 MAX | AirlineGeeks.com

An Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 was forced to divert on Friday night after one of its windows blew out mid-flight. The aircraft, operating as Alaska 1282, had just departed from Portland, Oregon bound for Ontario, California when the indecent occurred. Passengers onboard the aircraft report...
airlinegeeks.com airlinegeeks.com
 

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So it’s not an active Emergency Exit apparently, a plugged non used exit. Either way, expect all MAX’s with this plugged exit to be grounded until checked.

Boeing still walking the tightrope. They can consider themselves lucky nobody got sucked out that window from that seat. They can also count their blessings the flying debris didn’t impact an important aircraft part on the way out. Certainly is bad news for them considering it’s factory fresh. A 10-20 year old aircraft or something, most would just write it off as a once off, and the world moves on, but they cannot afford continue manufacturing blunders like this, Airbus don’t seem to have as many, or any issues.

I hope they get the 777X right.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1743476391553683904
 
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www.bbc.com

Alaska Airlines grounds 737 Max 9 planes after section blows out mid-air

Part of the fuselage of the Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 fell off, forcing an emergency landing.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com

A passenger plane lost a section of its fuselage in mid-air, forcing it to make an emergency landing in the US state of Oregon on Friday.
The Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 returned to Portland 35 minutes into its flight to California after an outer section, including a window, fell.
Alaska said 177 passengers and crew were on board and it "landed safely".
The airline said it would "temporarily" ground all 65 of its 737 Max 9 aircraft to conduct inspections.

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Luckily the window seat was empty at the time - it does not look like an in flight upgrade to an exit row would be a pleasant experience.
 
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It seems to be a modification of later 737-9s?

Operators can choose the door if it's a needed exit door. Or have the door "plugged" if it's not needed. It depends on pax seating configurations.

A selling point, apparently.
 
Yes, it looks like Alaska are impacted as they are not using the exit door in their configuration. It does prompt a couple of questions:

- How many other operators are impacted if the mechanism/design proves to be faulty?
- Is this same mechanism used in any other 737 versions/use cases?
 
Austman said:
It seems to be a modification of later 737-9s?

Operators can choose the door if it's a needed exit door. Or have the door "plugged" if it's not needed. It depends on pax seating configurations.

A selling point, apparently.
Click to expand...
Some are now claiming that it is still a door just ‘inactive’ with normal interior on the inside.

The purpose is for the lessor/owner to be able to hold the value, or opt for seat increase, at a future date.

Point still to be confirmed howver. Some are still advising it’s not a door and a special ‘plug’
 
Saab34 said:
Some are now claiming that it is still a door just ‘inactive’ with normal interior on the inside.

The purpose is for the lessor/owner to be able to hold the value, or opt for seat increase, at a future date.

Point still to be confirmed howver. Some are still advising it’s not a door and a special ‘plug’
Click to expand...
Correct it’s not needed as an emergency exit so it’s been plugged
 
Has the door/fuselage panel been located on the ground yet?
 
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I'm due to fly this aircraft with AS in a couple of weeks.
Hope they sort it out by then.
 
Saab34 said:
So it’s not an active Emergency Exit apparently, a plugged non used exit. Either way, expect all MAX’s with this plugged exit to be grounded until checked.

Boeing still walking the tightrope. They can consider themselves lucky nobody got sucked out that window from that seat. They can also count their blessings the flying debris didn’t impact an important aircraft part on the way out. Certainly is bad news for them considering it’s factory fresh. A 10-20 year old aircraft or something, most would just write it off as a once off, and the world moves on, but they cannot afford continue manufacturing blunders like this, Airbus don’t seem to have as many, or any issues.

I hope they get the 777X right.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1743476391553683904
Click to expand...
That video of the lights outside the plane through a missing door is so surreal.
 
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...


That's the thing. It isn't an emergency door. It's a plug where an emergency door could optionally be.

Apparently it's just a usual panel on the cabin interior.

Of course, it shouldn't "blow out".

It doesn't even seem to exist on some versions of the 737-9.
 
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