Alaska Airlines decided to restrict the aircraft from long flights over water so the plane "could return very quickly to an airport" if the warning light reappeared, National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said at a news conference Sunday night.
Homendy cautioned that the pressurization light might be unrelated to Friday's incident in which a plug covering an unused exit door blew off the Boeing 737 Max 9 as it cruised about 16,000 feet over Oregon.
The NTSB said the lost door plug was located Sunday near Portland, Ore., by a school teacher who found it in his backyard, she noted.
5 aircraft. They have 79 in their fleet and I doubt they have inspected the majority of them. That seems like an extremely high percentage to be finding issues with.
5 aircraft. They have 79 in their fleet and I doubt they have inspected the majority of them. That seems like an extremely high percentage to be finding issues with.
Plus, this would seemingly make it even worse:
Quote:
Across the five aircraft, there is little consistency in the locations of the errant parts...
Westjet dedicates a 737 Max 8 to Christina Thomson, a Westjet captain who was killed in a murder-suicide back in December
Met her twice on the flight deck, such a nice person and she somehow knew my name because she'd seen my photos before. Hoping to get photos of the tail they dedicated to her, I dunno... feels like I have to do something.
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My desire to be on airplanes I can't visually inspect every bolt on has suddenly dropped.
See I am the opposite, I see the system working like it is supposed too. An unfortunate incident was promptly followed by fleet inspections which are identifying a solvable issue and those aircraft wont return to service till they are safe to fly.
There could be any number of reasons those bolts are loose and that will be part of the resolution but for now they are catching them and that's the important part.
Also extremely fortunate no one was killed on this one. But what other issues like this may exist that we won't know until they are catastrophic? That's the concern. Because this seems like something that should never have happened, and the fact that it did, before anyone noticed the issue makes me think the whole process isn't as golden as you describe.
Also extremely fortunate no one was killed on this one. But what other issues like this may exist that we won't know until they are catastrophic? That's the concern. Because this seems like something that should never have happened, and the fact that it did, before anyone noticed the issue makes me think the whole process isn't as golden as you describe.
I think it's fortunate that this happened at 16,000 ft and not 30k+. People likely would have died then.
The concerning thing is there are reports that this frame had reported issues with pressurization, ostensibly due to this door plug, but was cleared to fly. This incident should result in inspections for the door plug when issues such as this arise, and will result in changes to the airframe acceptance certification before they ever get in the air.
Really sucks for the people on that flight, but lots of good will come from this.
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Right, but that revealed yet another flaw in the entire system. Pressurization problems, but lets send 'er anyway? How many more things like this are ignored by different airlines all over the globe? What else is being missed?
