On Friday , an Alaska Airlines flight AS1282, operated by a Boeing 737 MAX 9, experienced a rapid decompression after the loss of a large panel that included an emergency exit door plug on the left side of the plane.
During the incident, flight 1282 from Portland, Oregon, to Ontario, California, had reached 16,000ft (4,876m), when it began an emergency descent following the unexpected incident.
The US aviation regulator Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said that 171 Boeing 737 Max 9s must be grounded for checks after part of an Alaska Airlines plane's fuselage fell off on Friday. Alaska said flight disruptions are expected to last into next week. United Airlines has grounded 79 planes.
FAA's emergency AD specified that ehe emergency AD was prompted by a report of an in-flight departure of a mid cabin door plug, which resulted in a rapid decompression of the airplane.
In the Emergency AD, FAA release read ,
The FAA is issuing this AD to address the potential in-flight loss of a mid cabin door plug, which could result in injury to passengers and crew, the door impacting the airplane, and/or loss of control of the airplane.
The AD, which has an immediate effectivity, was issued because the agency determined the unsafe condition described previously is likely to exist or develop in other products of the same type design.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency also acknowledged and adopted the Emergency Airworthiness Directive (EAD) issued by the FAA, it said,
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency has adopted an Emergency Airworthiness Directive (EAD) issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for a specific configuration of the Boeing 737-9 (MAX).
The EAD, which grounds aircraft in this specific configuration until an inspection has been completed, follows an event on an Alaska Airlines flight, where an exit panel detached from the aircraft inflight, leading to rapid decompression of the cabin.
EASA said it believes no European airlines operate Max 9s with the configuration covered by the FAA order.
"EASA took the decision to adopt the FAA EAD despite the fact that, to the Agency's knowledge and also on the basis of statements from the FAA and Boeing, no airline in an EASA Member State currently operates an aircraft in the relevant configuration."
"In the specific set-up covered by the EAD, a mid-cabin exit is replaced by a plug-in panel. This configuration is typically adopted by airlines flying lower-density operations (with lower passenger capacity) where this additional exit is not required to meet evacuation safety requirements."
The 737-9 aircraft operating in Europe do not have this configuration and are therefore not grounded by the EAD and can continue to operate normally.
EASA further said that it is in contact with the FAA on this matter and will follow the investigation into the Alaska Airlines event closely.
In a recent development, the head of the US National Transportation Safety Board has confirmed that no passengers were seated next to a cabin panel that blew out during an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 flight.
About the model variant, United Airlines and Alaska Airlines in particular have purchased it in large numbers, and airlines such as Panama's Copa Airlines, Mexico's Aeromexico, and Turkey's Turkish Airlines have introduced it.
Airlines with Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes are already cancelling flight due to temporary grounding pending the manadatory inspections. Alaska later said that, as of Saturday afternoon, it had cancelled 160 flights.
The airline said on Saturday that 18 of its Max 9 planes - about a quarter - had received "in-depth inspections as part of heavy maintenance checks" and were returned to service, but following the FAA's orders these have since been "pulled from service".
