The U.S. Civil Aviation Regulatory Authority (FAA) announced Thursday the opening of a formal investigation into a possible failure by Boeing that may have played a role in blocking a door on a 737 MAX 9 aircraft during an Alaska Airlines flight.
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The investigations must “determine whether Boeing failed to ensure that the (devices) conformed to the intended design and could function safely,” the FAA said in a news release.
“Boeing’s methods must meet the highest standards required by law,” recalled the regulator, which informed the manufacturer of the opening of the investigation.
“This incident should never have happened and must never happen again,” the FAA stressed, noting that the 737 MAX 9 for which it had ordered an inspection would have to remain grounded until further notice.
The FAA investigation is being carried out in parallel with the investigation by the American traffic safety authority NTSB, which has been in operation since Saturday.
A door came off the cabin of a Boeing 737 MAX 9 during an Alaska Airlines flight connecting Portland, Oregon, to Ontario, California, on Friday, but the incident caused few injuries. The plane was able to land safely at its original airport.
On Wednesday, Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun promised that the plane maker would identify “what was flawed in the original work and admit that error.”
During checks carried out since Saturday, the two largest customers of the 737 MAX 9, United Airlines and Alaska Airlines, have discovered loose pieces of equipment on some of their aircraft.
Boeing suggests that its customers on the MAX 9 lock certain doors if the number of emergency exits is already sufficient in relation to the number of seats in the aircraft.