With the shocking scene of the 737 Max 9 aircraft of Alaska Airlines flying away in mid air, manufacturing giant Boeing has once again returned to the center of controversy.
The aircraft in question took off from Portland International Airport at 17:07 local time on Friday. Six minutes later, accompanied by a loud noise, passengers were surprised to find that a whole piece of the fuselage was missing and the cabin began to rapidly decompress. It is reported that the plane had climbed to an altitude of nearly 4900 meters at the time of the incident, and then the crew made an emergency descent and successfully made an emergency landing at 17:27.
After the incident, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the United States urgently ordered all 737 Max 9 aircraft operated by American airlines or on US territory to be immediately grounded and inspected in the early hours of Saturday morning. The FAA predicts that the order may affect 171 aircraft, and there are approximately 200 aircraft of this model worldwide.
Although the official has not yet clearly announced the cause of the accident, the FAA's emergency airworthiness order clearly stated that a report was received stating that the mid fuselage door plug had fallen off during the flight. For airlines like Alaska, Boeing is required to disable the "cockpit door" before leaving the factory, so passengers may not even notice that there is a sealed door in this position.
The impact of the event will last for at least a few days
Although the FAA only stated in the emergency airworthiness order that it would "ground before completing the emergency inspection" and that each aircraft would only take about 4-8 hours, as of the time of publication, major airlines are still undergoing emergency inspections.
Alaska Airlines, as the center of the incident, announced after an in-depth inspection that 18 737 Max 9 aircraft could continue to operate. But after receiving emergency airworthiness orders, all 18 aircraft were also withdrawn from operation. The airline stated that it needs to further confirm the details of inspections and maintenance with the FAA, and it is expected that the impact of this incident on passenger travel will be maintained at least until the middle of next week.
In addition to Alaska Airlines, there are 737 Max 9 aircraft in hand, including United Airlines, Panama Airlines, Mexico International Airlines, Skatel Airlines, Icelandic Airlines, Türkiye Airlines and Dubai Airlines. Among them, Alaska Airlines (65) and United Airlines (79) hold two-thirds of the world's aircraft of this model.
Based on the latest news, the European Aviation Safety Agency has announced the adoption of FAA directives, but no EU member state airline has configured the affected models. United Airlines and Panama Airlines have also announced a temporary suspension of the aircraft involved, but the latter is expected to go around soon after inspection.
Dubai Airways spokesperson responded to media reports that the company's three 737 Max 9 aircraft were not affected by the FAA's emergency airworthiness order, and these aircraft have completed all necessary safety checks in the past 24 months. The company needs to wait for guidance from Boeing before taking further inspections.
The accident investigation will continue for several months
Generally speaking, if a serious aviation accident occurs, even if there are no casualties, it will immediately trigger investigations by major global aviation regulatory agencies.
As for the Alaska Airlines incident, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) of the United States will be the leading agency to investigate as both the location of the incident and the manufacturing of the aircraft involved are in the United States. The security investigation itself may take several months, involving experts from the government, airlines, unions, and aircraft manufacturers (Boeing).
Once there is evidence that the cause of a safety accident is a defect in the aircraft, the FAA may order a complete grounding of the aircraft model and conduct repairs and inspections.
The data shows that the aircraft involved in Alaska Airlines was a new aircraft that was just delivered at the end of October last year.
Boeing also issued a statement as soon as possible, apologizing to the affected airlines and passengers, and emphasizing its support for the FAA's decision to inspect all aircraft of the same model. Boeing also revealed that its technical team is supporting NTSB's investigation.
Considering that the FAA's emergency airworthiness order was issued in the early hours of Saturday, the impact of this incident on Boeing's stock price is significant and will not be apparent until at least before tomorrow's trading day. One disadvantage is that Boeing had just experienced a nearly 50% increase at the end of last year, so it was also in a weak adjustment state along with the overall market in the first week of the new year.