US: Window of Boeing 737 Max flies out mid-air; Alaska Airlines plane lands safely
Alaska Airlines “temporarily” grounds all 65 of its 737 Max 9 aircraft for inspections; plane was reportedly delivered to airline on October 1, 2023
Within days of an alert being issued over a loose bolt inthe newly-built Boeing 737 Max aircraft, one of the planes belonging to Alaska Airlines got into a bizarre and alarming incident mid-air, when a window and piece of fuselage flew out minutes after take-off late on Friday (January 5).
The incident took place when the AS1282 flight was on its way from Portland to Ontario, California, in the US. A video captured by a passenger and widely shared on X showed a gaping hole near the rear mid-cabin exit door, with the oxygen masks down and the plane in flight. The plane was safely flown back to Portland with no reported injuries. The gaping hole caused the cabin to depressurize and a child's shirt was reportedly ripped off.
The plane was reportedly diverted about six minutes after taking off at 5.07 pm. It landed at 5.26 pm. The pilot reportedly told Portland air traffic controllers the plane had an emergency, was depressurized and needed to return to the airport.
“AS1282 from Portland to Ontario, CA (California) experienced an incident this evening soon after departure. The aircraft landed safely back at Portland International Airport with 171 guests and 6 crew members. We are investigating what happened and will share more as it becomes available,” Alaska Airlines said in a post on X.
Flightradar24, which tracks air traffic in real time, reported that the 737-9 Max aircraft reached a maximum altitude of 16,325 feet before it was diverted safely back to Portland. According to the report, the plane was delivered to Alaska Airlines on October 1, 2023. It started commercial service on November 11 and had recorded a mere 145 flights since then.
According to the Flightradar24 report, the 737-9 MAX has included this rear cabin exit door to meet evacuation requirements in the case of dense seating configurations. However, these doors are permanently “plugged” on Alaska Airlines aircraft.
Probes ordered
Boeing said in an X post that it was aware of the incident and was working with Alaska Airlines to gather more information. “A Boeing technical team stands ready to support the investigation,” it wrote. Reports said the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) was already probing the incident. The Federal Aviation Administration will also investigate the incident.
Soon after, media reports said Alaska Airlines has “temporarily” grounded all 65 of its 737 Max 9 aircraft to conduct inspections.
“Following tonight’s event on Flight 1282, we have decided to take the precautionary step of temporarily grounding our fleet of 65 Boeing 737-9 aircraft,” Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci said in a statement on Friday.
Each of the aircraft will be returned to service after full maintenance and safety inspections, which Minicucci said the airline anticipated completing within days.
About the 737 Max
The Max is the newest version of Boeing’s 737, a twin-engine, single-aisle plane frequently used on US domestic flights. The plane went into service in May 2017.
Two Max 8 jets crashed in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people and leading to a near two-year worldwide grounding of all Max 8 and Max 9 planes. The planes returned to service only after Boeing made changes to an automated flight control system implicated in the crashes.
Max deliveries have been interrupted at times to fix manufacturing flaws. The company told airlines in December to inspect the planes for a possible loose bolt in the rudder-control system.
(With agency inputs)
