The door plug of a 737 Max 9 blew out during an Alaska Airlines flight, just minutes after the plane had taken off from Portland, Oregon.
U.S. air safety regulators found βdozens of problemsβ at facilities owned by Boeing and one of its key suppliers after a six-week audit of the production of the 737 Max jet, according to The New York Times.
A panel that blew off a Boeing 737 Max during an Alaska Airlines flight will be a key part of a two-day investigative hearing set for next week. Federal investigators have been examining the mid exit door plug since not long after it blew off during a Jan. 5 flight, when the plane was at 16,000 feet. It was discovered in the backyard of a home near Portland, Oregon. National Transportation Safety Board personnel displayed the panel for the media on Tuesday at the NTSBβs laboratory in Washington, D.C. A preliminary report found that four bolts used to help secure the part were missing when the plane rolled out of a Boeing factory near Seattle.
2 years ago, Jan 5, 2024: Alaska Airlines #AS1282 experienced an in-flight blowout of a door plug on climbout from Portland #KPDX. It returned safely to PDX. But the plane has so far never flown again. Alaska made Boeing buy it back, obviously being defective.
I got this picture this afternoon during a bicycle ride. N704AL is parked on the Boeing ramp by the paint hangar. Plastic sheeting still covers where the door plug has not been replaced. #aviation #business #travel #avgeek #history #TDIH
@ikluft I wonder if it is sitting until all the various investigations and lawsuits are finished.
Some airline would like a discount 737 I'm sure, even with its history.
@jclear The NTSB investigation (not lawsuits) was originally what held it there. Boeing ended up buying back the plane (in exchange for a new MAX10 order for Alaska) for the NTSB investigation. But NTSB's hearings are done and the final report released.
So I wonder why the door plug hasn't been replaced yet, to more properly protect it from the PNW elements. Eventually, when work will be done, Boeing only needs to tug it a few hundred feet to their PDX Paint Hangar.
@ikluft real cool that our regulatory bodies have basically no power. i seriously wonder where all this will even lead. bc i can pretty much guarantee anyone that the US govt is not going to be nationalizing or breaking up any corporations anytime soon.
as my bud was saying the other day - the NTSB can only 'make recommendations'