US officials have ordered the immediate grounding of Boeing 737 Max 9 jetliners until they are inspected after an Alaska Airlines plane suffered a blowout that left a gaping hole in the side of the fuselage.
The required inspections take around four to eight hours per aircraft and affect about 171 airplanes worldwide. As of Sunday morning (NZ time), inspections on more than a quarter of the fleet were complete “with no concerning findings,” the company said.
An Air New Zealand spokesperson told Stuff that Air New Zealand’s fleet does not include the Boeing 737 Max.
“We have a number of different aircraft for our international and domestic flights including the Boeing 777-300ER, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, Airbus A320ceo, Airbus A320neo, Airbus A321neo. For connecting people to our regions, we operate ATR72-600s and Q300 aircraft,” the spokesperson said.
Stuff has requested comment from New Zealand’s Civil Aviation Authority, the crown entity responsible to the Minister of Transport for the country’s air safety.
FIJI AIRWAYS/Supplied
A Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft in New Zealand.
An Alaska Airlines jetliner blew out a window and a portion of its fuselage shortly after takeoff 4.8km above Oregon late on Friday (local time), creating a gaping hole that forced the pilots to make an emergency landing as its 174 passengers and six crew members donned oxygen masks.
No one was seriously hurt as the depressurised plane returned safely to Portland International Airport about 20 minutes after it had departed.
Passenger Evan Smith said a boy and his mother were sitting in the row where the window blew out and the child’s shirt was sucked off him and out of the plane.
“You heard a big loud bang to the left rear. A whooshing sound and all the oxygen masks deployed instantly and everyone got those on,” Smith told local media.
Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci said the inspection of the company’s 737-9 fleet aircraft could take days to complete. They make up a fifth of the company’s 314 planes.
“We are working with Boeing and regulators to understand what occurred … and will share updates as more information is available,” Minicucci said.
“My heart goes out to those who were on this flight – I am so sorry for what you experienced.”
The Port of Portland, which operates the airport, told local media the fire department treated minor injuries at the scene. One person was taken for more treatment but wasn’t seriously hurt.
Flight 1282 had taken off from Portland at 5.07pm on Friday (local time) for a two-hour flight to Ontario, California.
About six minutes later, the window and a chunk of the fuselage blew out as the plane was at about 16,000 feet (4.8km). One of the pilots declared an emergency and asked for clearance to descend to 10,000 feet (3km), the altitude where the air would have enough oxygen to breathe safely.
“We need to turn back to Portland,” the pilot told controllers in a calm voice that she maintained throughout the landing process.
Videos posted by passengers online showed a gaping hole where the window had been and passengers wearing their masks. They applauded when the plane landed safely about 13 minutes after the window blew out.
Firefighters then came down the aisle, asking passengers to remain in their seats as they treated the injured.
Ted S. Warren/AP
A Boeing 737-9 Max flies above Paine Field near Boeing’s manufacturing facility in Everett, Washington.
The aircraft involved rolled off the assembly line and received its certification two months ago, according to online FAA records. The plane had been on 145 flights since entering commercial service on November 11, said FlightRadar24, another tracking service. The flight from Portland was the aircraft’s third of the day.
Aviation experts were stunned that a piece would fly off a new aircraft. Anthony Brickhouse, a professor of aerospace safety at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, said he has seen panels of fuselage come off planes before, but couldn’t recall one where passengers “are looking at the lights of the city”.
He also said the incident is a reminder for passengers to stay buckled in.
“If there had been a passenger in that window seat who just happened to have their seat belt off, we’d be looking at a totally different news story.”
The Max is the newest version of Boeing’s venerable 737, a twin-engine, single-aisle plane frequently used on US domestic flights. The plane went into service in May 2017.
The union representing flight attendants at 19 airlines, including Alaska Airlines, commended the crew for keeping passengers safe.
“Flight Attendants are trained for emergencies and we work every flight for aviation safety first and foremost,” the Association of Flight Attendants said in a statement.
Two Max 8 jets crashed in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people and leading to a near two-year worldwide grounding of all Max 8 and Max 9 planes. The planes returned to service only after Boeing made changes to an automated flight control system implicated in the crashes.
Last year, the FAA told pilots to limit use of an anti-ice system on the Max in dry conditions because of concern that inlets around the engines could overheat and break away, possibly striking the plane.
Max deliveries have been interrupted at times to fix manufacturing flaws. The company told airlines in December to inspect the planes for a possible loose bolt in the rudder-control system.
– additional reporting by AP
