1 of 4 Wrong door ejected on a flight in the USA Photo: Reproduction/TV Globo Wrong door ejected on a flight in the USA Photo: Reproduction/TV Globo
The Panamanian company Copa Airlines operates regular aircraft Boeing 737 Max 9 on flights departing or arriving at Guarulhos International Airport in São Paulo. The information was confirmed by the National Civil Aviation Agency (Anac).
On Saturday night, Copa announced on its website the suspension of flights with 21 Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft for inspectionto comply with a Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) regulation. The measure does not affect all aircraft of this model: according to the Airfleets website, Copa has 29 Boeing 737 Max 9s.
2 of 4 Notice on the World Cup page in Portuguese Photo: Reproduction Notice on the World Cup page in Portuguese Photo: Reproduction
According to the FAA, they have to go through “immediate” inspection 171 Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft of American or foreign airlines operating in the United States and They have a socalled door stopper. The World Cup has stopped 21 of the 29 Boeing 737 Max 9s the other eight are still flying, including within Brazil and the United States.
Copa is the only company that operates Boeing 737 Max 9s in Brazil. No Brazilian airline has this type of aircraft; Gol uses a Boeing 737 Max 8 smaller than the Max 9 and not affected by the FAA decision.
During the flight, the door opens and the plane lands in the USA if necessary
Because the “wrong” door was thrown out, the Alaska Airlines plane suffered a loss of pressure during the climb, at an altitude of 4,975 meters, and had to make an emergency landing in Portland about 20 minutes after takeoff from the same airport. There were 171 passengers and six crew members on board. The “wrong” door was next to an empty seat. No one is hurt.
In justifying the suspension, the FAA cited the danger to other aircraft Issues with the “wrong” door, which they classified as an “unsafe condition.”
He also noted that repeated loss of a flight door could result in “injuries to passengers and crew, impact of the door on the aircraft and/or loss of control of the aircraft.” (see facsimile of the provision below).
3 of 4 Excerpt from the FAA standard that talks about the risk to passengers, the crew and the risk of losing control of the aircraft Photo: Reproduction Excerpt from the FAA standard that talks about the risk to passengers, the crew and the risk speaks of loss of aircraft control Photo: Reproduction
According to the FAA, Boeing 737 Max 9 inspections take four to eight hours. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating the incident.
Brazilian airlines will not take delivery of the Boeing 737 Max 9.
4 of 4 Airplane made an emergency landing after the door opened during a flight in the USA on January 6, 2024 Photo: Social Networks Airplane made an emergency landing after the door opened during a flight in the USA on January 6, 2024 , 2024 Photo: Social Media
Why do these planes have “false” doors?
The problem on the Alaska flight occurred in a disabled port in the tail of the Boeing 737 Max 9.
This additional door is present on every 737 Max 9 to meet passenger evacuation requirements in the event of an emergency but it is not necessarily functional. The door is adopted as an emergency exit by airlines using the Max 9's maximum 220passenger configuration.
Alaska Airlines has fewer seats: 178, according to the company's website. In practice, the flight has fewer passengers on board, which makes the use of this emergency exit unnecessary and it is then blocked. You can only tell from the outside that it is a door; From the inside it resembles a window.