From Le Figaro with AFP
Published yesterday at 11:33 p.m., updated 1 hour ago
Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun in January 2022. STEFANI REYNOLDS / AFP
Blocking a door during Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 last week resulted in dozens of the American manufacturer's 737 MAX 9 planes being grounded.
Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun admitted a “mistake” on Tuesday after a doorstop incident occurred on an Alaska Airlines flight that resulted in dozens of the American manufacturer's 737 MAX 9 planes being grounded. “We will address (this problem) by first admitting our mistake,” the manager said at a meeting at the company's factory in Renton, Washington, according to quotes from a Boeing spokesman.
Dave Calhoun promised to address the issue “transparently every step of the way.” He said he was relying on America's Civil Aviation Regulatory Authority (FAA) “to ensure that all aircraft approved to fly are safe and that this event never occurs again.” “All the details are important,” he stressed, claiming that the images of the Alaska Airlines flight that had to turn around Friday after a door was torn off stuck with him. The head of the aircraft manufacturer did not elaborate on what he meant by “mistake”.
On Monday, United, which owns the world's first fleet of 737 MAX 9s (79 aircraft), said that during inspections on the defective doors of its 737 MAX 9s it had discovered “screws that needed to be tightened.” the same as the one that was demolished during the Alaska Airlines flight on Friday.
Boeing offers its customers the option of locking certain doors if the number of existing emergency exits is already sufficient in relation to the number of seats in the aircraft. In addition to the 737 MAX 9, this device already exists on other Boeing models, in particular the 737-900ER, which was launched in 2006 and which has not experienced similar incidents since then.