A Boeing 737MAX9 aircraft recently experienced an abnormal situation after takeoff, with one of the cabin doors missing.
Boeing 737 MAX series aircraft has experienced another safety accident.
According to CCTV News, on the evening of January 5th, an accident occurred shortly after takeoff of an Alaska Airlines passenger plane, followed by an emergency landing. According to American media reports, a cabin door was lost and missing after the plane returned, and photos taken by passengers showed a huge hole exposed on the plane's cabin wall. According to recordings between flight crew and air traffic control personnel, the aircraft was in an emergency state of depressurization a few minutes before the successful landing.
Alaska Airlines stated in multiple statements that evening that its Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft, with flight number 1282, flew from Portland to Ontario, California on the same day. The aircraft had an accident shortly after takeoff and landed safely. At that time, the plane was carrying 174 passengers and 6 crew members. In addition, following the incident of Flight 1282, the company has decided to take preventive measures and temporarily suspend the flight of 65 Boeing 737 MAX 9 fleets. Each aircraft will only be restored to use after completing comprehensive maintenance and safety checks, and it is expected that all inspections will be completed within the next few days.
During flight, the cabin door fell and 171 Boeing 737MAX9 aircraft were grounded in the United States
On January 6th, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced a temporary suspension of Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft operated by US airlines or within the United States. The Emergency Airworthiness Directive (EAD) requires operators to inspect affected aircraft before further flights, with each aircraft requiring approximately four to eight hours of inspection. EAD will affect approximately 171 aircraft worldwide.
FAA1 Statement on June 6th
On January 6th, aircraft manufacturer Boeing also released a statement on its official website, stating that "safety is our top priority, and we deeply regret the impact this incident has had on customers and passengers. Boeing agrees and fully supports the decision of the Federal Aviation Administration of the United States to immediately inspect 737-9 aircraft with the same configuration as the affected aircraft. In addition, Boeing's technical team is supporting NTSB's investigation into last night's incident. Boeing will maintain close contact with regulatory agencies and customers." On January 5th, Boeing responded after the incident of Flight 1282, stating that it is working to collect more information and contact airline customers. The Boeing technical team is ready to support the investigation at any time.
Boeing Statement on January 6th
Boeing Statement on January 5th
At 6pm Pacific Time on January 6th, Alaska Airlines stated in the latest statement updated on its official website that an investigation into the incident involving Flight 1282 is currently underway. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) of the United States is now playing a leading role in the investigation, with Alaska's safety and technology teams and Boeing closely involved and supporting the NTSB. In addition, the company's voluntary temporary suspension of the 737-9MAX fleet has affected the travel plans of many passengers. As of 4pm Pacific time on January 6th, Alaska Airlines has cancelled a total of 160 flights, affecting approximately 23000 passengers. "We are currently determining whether it is necessary to cancel flights tomorrow (January 7th), and we expect this interference to continue at least until mid week."
Alaska Airlines also stated that the aircraft involved in Flight 1282 was delivered on October 31, 2023. The part involved in this incident is a specific panel of the fuselage near the rear of the aircraft. Several passengers on board were injured and require medical care. Currently, all passengers have recovered.
According to foreign media, this aircraft was certified in November 2023 and put into commercial service that month. Since then, it has operated 145 flights.
How will the frequent accidents of Boeing 737MAX series aircraft affect domestic airlines?
It is reported that the Boeing 737MAX series aircraft is Boeing's latest single aisle aircraft family, with specific models including 737-7, 737-8, 737-9, 737-10, etc., using CFM's LEAP-1B engine. The fourth generation 737MAX was announced to be launched in 2011, with its first flight on January 29, 2016. In November 2017, Boeing delivered its first 737-8 aircraft to Air China. Currently, over ten domestic airlines have nearly a hundred 737-8 aircraft models, including Air China, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Hainan Airlines, and others.
As a best-selling model, the 737MAX model has experienced frequent accidents in recent years. From October 2018 to March 2019, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft experienced two crashes with Lion Air Indonesia and Ethiopian Airlines within five months, resulting in a total of 346 deaths. The model subsequently grounded globally for nearly two years and obtained a go around permit from the United States in November 2020. According to reports, this crisis caused Boeing to lose $20.7 billion.
It is worth noting that the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft involved in the previous crash was the 737 MAX 8, while Alaska Airlines had the 737 MAX 9 aircraft involved in this accident, which is not the same aircraft.
According to senior captain Chen Jianguo, when viewed from outside the aircraft, unlike the 737-8, the 737-9 has a "middle gate" between the rear and rear boarding gates, in addition to two emergency exits on the front and upper wings. It is also the location where the side of the cabin was damaged during this flight.
Chen Jianguo introduced that if there are many seats for passengers, in order to meet the needs of emergency evacuation, there must be a sufficient number of emergency evacuation doors. If enabled, the "middle door" is only used for emergency evacuation and is not usually used for passengers boarding and disembarking from the plane. If the airline chooses to use a low-density layout, that is, not choosing a layout with so many seats, and not using this emergency door, it can also complete the requirement of evacuating all passengers in 90 seconds. If not enabled, it looks exactly the same as other aircraft windows from the cabin.
It is understood that there are currently no operating 737-9 aircraft models in China's domestic airlines, and all operating 737 MAX aircraft are 737 MAX 8. According to data provided by the third-party travel data app "Flight Manager" to a reporter from Pengpai News, domestic airlines currently have a total of 95 Boeing 737 MAX 8 fleets, and as of mid December 2023, all flights have resumed. Last December, the fleet utilization rate reached 7.6 hours per day.
Although there are no airlines operating the 737-9 within China, there are already airlines that have signed orders with Boeing. According to reports, as one of the four base airlines in Hong Kong, Greater Bay Area Airlines announced an order in March last year containing 15 Boeing 737-9 narrow body aircraft and 5 787 long-range wide body aircraft. At the signing ceremony, Greater Bay Area Airlines stated that the 737-9 will become the backbone aircraft of their future fleet, supporting their plans to open more routes between Hong Kong, the Asia Pacific region, and major cities in mainland China.
Regarding the situation of the 737 MAX series aircraft in China, Boeing China President Liu Qing stated in an article titled "Farewell to the Old and Welcome to the New" released on the official WeChat account on December 29 last year that with the joint cooperation of the Boeing team and the customer team, all 737 MAX models of Civil Aviation of China have resumed operation. Now, the Chinese MAX fleet consisting of nearly a hundred aircraft is serving passengers with higher efficiency and better flight experience, and has begun to operate multiple regional international routes. At the same time, as China's civil aviation industry continues to recover and grow, we have also delivered new aircraft to Chinese customers to help them improve their capacity and operational level.
In the second half of last year, Huo Daren, Vice President of Civil Aviation Marketing at Boeing, stated in an interview with The Paper that the 737 MAX aircraft of Chinese customers has resumed operation, and the next step is to resume delivery. "We are working closely with relevant parties on this and are expected to achieve delivery in the near future. Boeing is ready to support Chinese customers, and the time for resuming delivery will be determined jointly by regulatory agencies and users.".