737 Max 9: United says it found loose screws – 01/08/2024 – Market

The American airline United Airlines reported, this Monday (8), that it discovered screws that were poorly adjusted during inspections of the closed doors of its Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft, the same ones that came loose during an Alaska Airlines flight on Friday ( 5).

United found “instances that appear to be related to door cover installation issues, such as screws that needed additional tightening,” the company said.

On Friday, an Alaska Airlines passenger aircraft had to make an emergency landing after the door lid broke.

The part of the Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 plane, which broke loose last week in mid-flight, was found in the backyard of a professor’s house in Portland, Oregon, in the United States. The piece will be analyzed by experts trying to understand the causes of the incident.

The fuselage broke apart during the flight last Friday (5), forcing the aircraft with 171 passengers and 6 crew members to reduce its altitude and make an emergency landing.

Images on social media show passengers using oxygen masks and one of the panels on the left side of the plane open.

There were no injuries, and reports indicate that the seat next to the component that came loose was unoccupied.

The incident occurred on a panel where an emergency exit could have been installed, from the middle to the rear of the fuselage.

However, in the seating configuration used by the company for that flight, the emergency exit had been deactivated. The panel was a window with a common seat in front — something possible when the model in question is configured with fewer seats.

Alaska Airlines announced after last week’s incident that it will temporarily remove all 65 of its 737 Max 9 planes from service to conduct inspections. Boeing stated that it is aware of what happened and is “working to obtain more information.”

Anac (National Civil Aviation Agency) stated this Sunday (7) that the use of the Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft is suspended in Brazil. The immediate veto of the model was decreed by US authorities and also applies to the South American country, said the federal government body.