The are significant differences in the Boeing 737 MAX exit doors plus earlier versions of the 737.
The Boeing 737 MAX 9 involved in the exit door incident is a longer model than the standard -8 model, or the yet-to-certified – 7 model and requires two additional exit doors located between the rear of the wing and the doors at the back of the plane.
However, the Alaska Airlines aircraft are only configured for 179 seats so these exit doors are not required and thus there is a seat row in place next to the door.
Now, the FAA has only issued the directive for the MAX 9 but there are other models of the MAX – the MAX 8-200 for Ryanair and the 737-900ER of the earlier New Generation series that also have the same exit configuration. It is unclear at the time of writing if these aircraft are impacted.
The most widely used 737s the 737-800 and the 737 MAX 8 have two forward door exits and two rear door exits. They also have four much smaller over-wing exits. These models are NOT impacted by the temporary grounding for inspections.
The main airlines that have the 737 MAX 9 are;
Alaska Airlines, United Airlines, Icelandair, Lionair, SCAT, AeroMexico, Copa Airlines, Turkish Airlines, and flydubai. However, the three flydubai aircraft are NOT impacted as the particular exit doors are deactivated.
Ryanair, BUZZ and Malta Air operate the 737 MAX 8-200, which is the same size as the MAX 8 but with higher seating to 200 passengers and thus requires these additional exit doors but appears that they are exempt from the inspections.
This leads to the view that the issue is specific to the MAX 9 and possibly relates to a production or parts issue.
Below is a video clarifying what happened as much of the media are reporting a window came off or a panel flew off.
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