Last week, an Alaska Airlines airplane had to do an emergency landing at Portland International Airport due to the plane blowing out.
Federal investigators said last Monday that the bolts that might have been supposed to keep a fuselage panel in place were never installed before the panel blew off an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 in a near-disastrous accident on Friday night.
This is one of the theories that the National Transportation Safety Board is assuming and they keep investigating the blowout, the board’s chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said at the news conference. Her statement came hours after United Airlines said that they found loose bolts on similar panels on some of the Max 9 jets while preparing them for inspection after the midair emergency and loose hardware was also found.
What happened was that the panel came off the plane, called a door plug which was placed where an emergency exit door would be if the plane had more seats. Ms.Homendy said on Monday that these four bolts also known as stop bolts should have prevented the door plug from moving upward and coming off the plane.
The door bolts were not on the door plug when the investigators went to go and investigate, and they are trying to determine if they were there to begin with. “We don’t know if they were there or if, again, they came out during the violent explosive decompression event,” Ms. Homendy said.
The door plus came off 10 minutes into the flight after departing from Portland International Airport, passengers were facing strong winds, and the pilot had to make an emergency landing back to the airport. There were no serious injuries to any passengers. All personal belongings were vaccuumed and fall out of the plane.
However, this incidient caused airlines to cancel hundreds of flights as they began to inspect every aircraft. Which will remain like that until regulators and company officials declare its safe. Some passengers’ travel plans will be disrupted for a few days. Alaska Airlines used 65 of the planes, about 20 percent of its fleet, and United used 79, more than any other airline and about 8 percent of its fleet, according to Cirium, an aviation data provider.
Ms. Homendy said on Sunday that Alaska Airlines had been warned three times before the Friday flight about problems with cabin pressure on the plane. Those warnings were significant enough that the airline had decided the plane, a Max 9, could no longer be used on flights to Hawaii.
The person who was seated by the door actually missed their flight, so they saved themselves from something tragic. The accident that happened on Friday could of been more catastrophic especially if they had been at a higher altitude. There were three babies on the flights, and several unaccompanied children from the ages 5 to 17.
Hopefully, this incidient strictly enforces airlines and companies to check the aircaft many many times before they are put out to be used. Making sure that every passenger feels safe and that their safety in the first priority.
