The US regulator the FAA has temporarily grounded 171 Boeing 737 MAX 9 Jets for inspections after the incident involving Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, which lost an exit door.
The FAA action follows Alaska Airlines’ grounding of its fleet of 60 737 MAX 9 jets for inspections.
United has 80 Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft.
The exit at the centre of the issue is just behind the wing, and while much larger than the over-wing exit, is not used as a door for normal operations.
Here is the FAA statement:
The FAA ordered the temporary grounding of certain Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft operated by U.S. airlines or in U.S. territory.
“The FAA is requiring immediate inspections of certain Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes before they can return to flight,” FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said. “Safety will continue to drive our decision-making as we assist the NTSB’s investigation into Alaska Airlines Flight 1282.”
The Emergency Airworthiness Directive (EAD) requires operators to inspect affected aircraft before further flight. The required inspections will take around four to eight hours per aircraft.
Other major operators of the MAX 9 are Copa and Aeromexico while Ryanair has the MAX 200 which has the same exit door.
This exit door is fitted to the larger variants including the yet-to-be-certified MAX 10.
While the grounding order only specifies the 9 Max series of the 737, this particular exit door is fitted to the much earlier -900ER model of the 737 which has been in service since 2007.
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