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DALLAS — Friday evening, an Alaska Airlines (AS) Boeing 737-9 reg. N704AL made an emergency landing at Portland International Airport (PDX) shortly after take-off due to the sudden loss of a deactivated emergency exit door.
During the flight, a sudden decompression occurred once the door detached along with a large inner wall panel, leading to an emergency landing. In video footage captured during the incident, the emergency exit and wall panel can be seen torn off and oxygen masks deployed. There are no reports of serious injuries.
Flight 1282 was in the air for about 20 minutes and reached a maximum altitude of 16,300 feet. The flight was en route from Portland to Ontario, California, and was carrying 171 passengers and six crew members.
https://twitter.com/Twixted1/status/1743489362506162253
Deactivated Emergency Door
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and Boeing are investigating the incident. According to John Ostrower of The Air Current, the emergency exit in question is a door that has been "deactivated" by Boeing before delivery.
From the inside, passengers are unaware that it is a door, located in the mid-aft section of the cabin, because it appears as a normal sidewall with a window in the Boeing 737-9 aircraft. Ostrower explained that Boeing would activate this door if the seating capacity layout of the 737 MAX aircraft were to increase to accommodate up to 220 passengers.
According to Boeing, the 737-9 can seat between 178 and 193 passengers in a 2-class configuration and up to 220 passengers in a 1-class (high-density) configuration.
Alaska Airlines and the Boeing 737-9
The aircraft involved in the incident was a brand-new Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, which was delivered to the airline in October. AS has 65 Boeing 737-9 aircraft in its fleet, all in a 2-class configuration, according to Cirium Diio data.
The variant has a smaller market share compared to other MAX variants—it accounts for only 4% of the backlog, while the 737-8 represents 44% and the 737-10 represents 24%. Therefore, the success of the MAX series in the long term rests on the performance of the latter two.
At 7:55 p.m. Pacific time on January 5, AS, which operates an all-Boeing fleet, released an initial statement confirming the incident, stating that the aircraft landed safely at PDX. The carrier is also investigating the cause of the incident and will provide more information as it becomes available.
https://twitter.com/AlaskaAir/status/1743539149905215718
Statement from Alaska Airlines CEO
At 11:42 p.m. Pacific time on January 5, Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci released a second statement with the following:
"At Alaska Airlines, safety is our foundational value and the most important thing we focus on every day. Following tonight’s event on Flight 1282, we have decided to take the precautionary step of temporarily grounding our fleet of 65 Boeing 737-9 aircraft. Each aircraft will be returned to service only after completion of full maintenance and safety inspections. We anticipate all inspections will be completed in the next few days."
The question on everyone's minds is whether the break-off of a deactivated exit door on a brand-new aircraft can be prevented with maintenance checks.
The Boeing 737-9's detached emergency door incident follows Boeing sending out a Multi-Operator Message (MOM) to airlines operating the 737 MAX aircraft at the end of December 2023, asking them to inspect the rudders of these planes for a possible loose bolt.
That same month, Boeing asked the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to exempt the still-uncertified 737-7 from safety rules to get it in the air.
Latest Updates
After the FAA's emergency airworthiness directive (EAD), which requires all operators of the Boeing 737-9 aircraft to conduct specific inspections before returning the aircraft to service, AS said it was working with the FAA to ensure that its inspections "meet their detailed requirements and comply with the EAD, but this process will take more time."
Alaska Airlines added, "Our voluntary temporary grounding of our 737-9 MAX fleet and ongoing work to comply with the FAA's EAD have impacted travel plans for many of our guests. As of 4 p.m. PT today, we have canceled 160 total flights, affecting roughly 23,000 guests. We are identifying necessary cancellations for tomorrow and expect the disruption to last through at least mid-week. A flexible travel policy is in place for guests to change or cancel their flights."
Then, on Saturday evening, AS announced that the 18 Boeing 737-9s that were returned to service by the airline are now being removed from service "until details about possible additional maintenance work are confirmed with the FAA."
As for other airlines, United Airlines (UA) confirmed to Airways that it had temporarily suspended service on "select Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft to conduct an inspection required by the FAA,” adding that it was working directly with impacted customers to find them alternative travel options.
United has 79 Boeing 737-9 aircraft, including about 33 that have already received the necessary inspection that is required by the FAA. The airline also states that removing certain Boeing 737-9 aircraft from service will cause "about 60 cancellations today.”
Turkish Airlines (TK) also decided to ground its five Boing 737-9s to carry out inspections. The aircraft will be withdrawn from service at the first available location. Additionally, Latin American carriers Copa Airlines (CM) and Aeromexico (AM) have decided to ground approximately 40 of their Boeing 737-9 aircraft.
Copa Airlines stated that it had temporarily suspended the operations of twenty-one (21) Boeing 737-9 aircraft following the FAA Airworthiness Directive until the aircraft underwent the required technical inspection. CM added that it had "initiated the necessary technical inspections and expects to return these aircraft safely and reliably to the flight schedule within the next 24 hours."
A flydubai spokesperson made the following statement: "Following the Emergency Airworthiness Directive (EAD) issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on 06 January 2024, we can confirm that the three Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft in our fleet are not affected. flydubai operates Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft with a deactivated mid-aft exit door configuration, which is not referenced in the directive."
https://airwaysmag.com/ntbs-alaska-flight-1282-accident/
NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy briefed the media on Saturday, January 6, at 8:00 p.m. PT, on Friday's event involving Flight 1282.
Featured image: N964AK, Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-9 MAX @KSLC. Photo: Michael Rodeback/Airways
https://airwaysmag.com/united-to-ground-boeing-737-9/
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