Alaska Airlines imposed restrictions on the Boeing plane involved in a mid-air blowout, revealing that pressurization warnings were issued in the days leading up to the incident, according to investigators. The jet was barred from making long-haul flights over water, as stated by Jennifer Homendy of the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Furthermore, the missing section of the plane has been located in the backyard of a Portland resident. The incident occurred on Friday when part of the fuselage of the Boeing 737 Max 9 detached mid-flight. The plane made a successful emergency landing back in Portland, with no injuries reported among the 177 passengers and crew on board. The incident prompted the grounding of 171 planes of the same type by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for safety checks.
Before the FAA intervened, Alaska Airlines briefly returned some of its Max 9s to service, asserting that no concerning findings had been made. During a press conference, Jennifer Homendy revealed that pilots had reported pressurization warning lights on three previous flights made by the specific Alaska Max 9 involved in the incident. The decision to restrict lengthy flights over water was made to ensure the plane could quickly return to an airport in case the warnings occurred again. However, it remains unclear if there is a direct link between the issues leading to those warnings and the incident causing the blowout on January 5. The plane, delivered to Alaska Airlines in October, was initially deemed airworthy by the FAA.
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Homendy detailed the chaotic and terrifying situation on board Alaska Airlines flight 1282, describing how the force of the blowout caused the cockpit door to open, leading to the expulsion of a laminated checklist and the first officer’s headset into the cabin. The cockpit voice recorder had no useful information available as the recording was automatically wiped after reaching a two-hour cutoff, prompting the NTSB to advocate for an increased recording window to 25 hours. Subsequently, the missing part of the fuselage, a 27kg (60lb) piece with a window, was found in a Portland teacher’s backyard. The NTSB considered this component crucial in understanding why the blowout occurred. Two mobile phones believed to have fallen from the aircraft were also reportedly found.
Alaska Airlines expressed its readiness for airworthiness directive inspections, awaiting criteria from the FAA and Boeing. The grounding of the 737-9 Max significantly impacted the airline’s operations, resulting in numerous flight cancellations. Boeing expressed regret over the impact of the event and emphasized safety as its top priority. The incident adds to the scrutiny faced by the 737 Max, which previously experienced two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019 due to flawed flight control software.
