PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Alaska Airlines and United Airlines again grounded all of their Boeing 737 Max 9 planes Sunday as they waited to be told how to inspect the planes to avoid another explosion during the To prevent a flight like the one that damaged an Alaska jet.
Alaska Airlines returned 18 of its 65 737 Max 9 planes to service on Saturday, less than 24 hours after part of another plane's fuselage exploded three miles (4.8 kilometers) over Oregon.
The reprieve was short-lived.
The airline said Sunday that it had received notice from the Federal Aviation Administration that additional work may be required on those 18 aircraft.
Alaska said it had canceled 170 flights – more than a fifth of its schedule – on the West Coast by mid-afternoon because of the flight cancellations.
“These aircraft have now also been removed from service pending confirmation of details of possible additional maintenance by the FAA,” the airline said in a statement. “We are in contact with the FAA to determine what further work, if any, is required.”
United Airlines said it canceled about 180 flights on Sunday and saved others by searching for other planes not affected by the grounding.
Alaska and United are the only US airlines flying the Max 9.
United said it was waiting for Boeing to issue a so-called multi-operator message. This is a service bulletin used when multiple airlines need to perform similar work on a particular type of aircraft.
Boeing is working on a bulletin but has not yet submitted it to the FAA, according to a person familiar with the situation. Producing a detailed technical bulletin often takes a few days, the person said. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the company and regulators have not discussed the process publicly.
Boeing declined to comment.
On Friday evening, shortly after Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 took off from Portland, Oregon, a panel blocking an area reserved for an exit door on the Max 9 exploded. The depressurized plane carrying 171 passengers and six crew members returned to Portland International Airport safely and without serious injuries.
Hours after the incident, the FAA grounded 171 Max 9s, including all planes operated by Alaska and United, until they could be inspected. The FAA said the inspections would take four to eight hours.
Boeing has delivered 218 Max 9s worldwide, but not all of them are covered by the FAA order. They are among more than 1,300 Max jetliners sold by the aircraft manufacturer – mainly of the Max 8 variant. The Max 8 and other versions of the Boeing 737 are not affected by the flight ban.
U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., chairwoman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, said she agreed with the decision to ground the Max 9s.
“Safety comes first. Aviation production must meet a gold standard, including quality control inspections and rigorous FAA oversight,” she said in a statement.
National Transportation Safety Board investigators searched Sunday for the paneled exit door that exploded from Flight 1282. They have a good idea of where it landed, near Oregon Route 217 and Barnes Road in the Cedar Hills area west of Portland, NTSB Chairman Jennifer Homendy said at a news conference late Saturday.
“If you find this, please contact local law enforcement,” she said.
Early Sunday afternoon, some residents roamed a patch of land covered in thick brush between busy streets and a light rail station. The area lies across the street from a sprawling hospital complex.
Searcher Adam Pirkle said he rode 14 miles (22 kilometers) and maneuvered his bike through the thicket. “I looked at the trajectory, I looked at the winds,” he said. “I tried to focus on forest areas.”
Daniel Feldt crossed the same thicket on foot, equipped with binoculars, after descending from the roof of a parking garage next to the light rail station. “I was up in the parking garage and scanned everything. “I didn’t see any holes in the bushes that looked obvious where something fell through,” he said.
Gavin Redshaw even brought his drone along for an aerial photo, but as of Sunday afternoon he hadn't found anything either. “Lots of trash, but no door,” he said.
There has not been a fatal crash involving a U.S. passenger airline within the country since a Colgan Air plane crashed near Buffalo, New York, in 2009, killing all 49 people on board and one person on the ground . In 2013, an Asiana Airlines flight coming from South Korea crashed at San Francisco International Airport, killing three of the 307 people on board.
Flight 1282 departed Portland at 5:07 p.m. Friday for a two-hour flight to Ontario, California. About six minutes later, the fuselage exploded while the plane was at an altitude of about 16,000 feet (4.8 kilometers). One of the pilots declared an emergency and asked for permission to descend to 10,000 feet (3 kilometers), the altitude at which there would be enough oxygen in the air for safe breathing.
Videos posted online by passengers showed a gaping hole where the paneled exit once was and passengers wearing masks. They applauded as the plane landed safely about 13 minutes after the explosion. Then firefighters came down the aisle and asked passengers to stay in their seats while they treated the injured.
It was very fortunate that the plane had not yet reached cruising altitude, where passengers and flight attendants might be milling around in the cabin, Homendy said.
“Nobody was sitting in 26A and B where that door plug is, the plane was about 16,000 feet and only 10 minutes from the airport when the door exploded,” she said. The investigation is expected to take months.
The affected aircraft rolled off the assembly line and received certification two months ago, according to FAA online records. According to FlightRadar24, another tracking service, there have been 145 flights since it went into operation on November 11th. The flight from Portland was the third of the day.
Aviation experts were stunned that part of a new aircraft would take off. Anthony Brickhouse, a professor of aerospace safety at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, said he had seen fuselage parts come off planes before but couldn't recall an instance where passengers “were looking at the city lights “.
The Max is the latest version of Boeing's venerable 737, a twin-engine, single-aisle plane often used on domestic flights in the United States. The aircraft entered service in May 2017.
In 2018 and 2019, two Max 8 jets crashed, killing 346 people. All Max 8 and Max 9 planes were grounded worldwide for nearly two years until Boeing made changes to an automated flight control system that was implicated in the crashes.
The Max was plagued by other problems, including manufacturing defects, concerns about overheating that led the FAA to advise pilots to limit the use of an anti-ice system, and a possible loose screw in the rudder system.
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Koenig reported from Dallas. Bohrer reported from Juneau, Alaska. Associated Press reporters Terry Spencer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Audrey McAvoy in Honolulu, Hawaii, contributed.