HANDOUT / AFP
Alaska Airlines Boeing was inspected after the door came loose mid-flight.
UNITED STATES – Did we narrowly avoid another tragedy? The American airline United Airlines announced on Monday, January 8, that during inspections it had discovered poorly screwed bolts on the defective doors of its Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft, just like those that were torn off on an Alaska Airlines flight were.
United has the largest fleet of 737 MAX 9s with 79 aircraft, all of which are currently grounded while they undergo an inspection ordered by the US Civil Aviation Administration (FAA).
“Since we began inspections on Saturday, we have made discoveries that appear to be related to problems with the installation of the panel blocking the doors,” the company said in a statement sent to AFP. “For example, screws that needed to be tightened. »
Locking certain doors is a configuration that Boeing offers to its customers when the number of existing emergency exits is already sufficient in relation to the number of seats on the aircraft.
Flights have been suspended
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.
On Friday, during an Alaska Airlines flight between Portland, Oregon, and Ontario, California, the clogged left cabin door separated mid-flight, causing a loss of pressure in the aircraft.
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On Saturday, the FAA asked operators of the 171 MAX-9 planes with clogged doors to suspend them from flight and conduct a thorough inspection.
In December a warning about a missing nut
For each aircraft inspected, United said it removed the panel concealing the door, removed two rows of seats, checked the attachment points, opened the door and took any corrective action before replacing all elements.
In December, Boeing recommended that companies equipped with 737 MAX aircraft check the rudder control system after a company discovered that a nut was missing from one of its planes.
According to the FAA, Boeing also observed that a nut was loosely screwed in the same location on an aircraft that had not yet been delivered.
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