Boeing acknowledges mistake after mid-air blowout — RT World News
An incident in which a panel dislodged a 737 Max 9 resulted in the aircraft model being grounded in several countries
Airplane manufacturer Boeing has admitted design errors led to a large piece of the Boeing 737 MAX 9 fuselage breaking off shortly after takeoff last Friday. Several of the company's major customers have since pointed to Boeing's longstanding policy.Quality control problems.“
Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 took off from Portland, Oregon, and was headed to California when the explosion left a large hole in its left side, as seen in footage recorded by passengers. Flight tracking data indicated that the plane reached an altitude of 16,000 feet (4,876 metres) before it began its emergency landing. While none of the 177 passengers and crew on board were injured, several people required medical attention.
Addressing employees during a meeting at a Boeing 737 factory outside Seattle on Tuesday, CEO Dave Calhoun said:We will address this matter, first, by admitting our mistake.“As promised”100% and complete transparency every step of the way.“
Meanwhile, the US Federal Aviation Administration announced on Saturday that it had ordered the temporary grounding of 171 Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft for inspection.
Jennifer Homendy, head of the National Transportation Safety Board, warned Monday that her agency may expand the scope of the investigation, which could necessitate deeper scrutiny of Boeing and its manufacturing operations.
Turkish Airlines also announced that it would ground its five Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft pending a technical review, with Latin American carriers Copa Airlines and Aeromexico also grounding 40 aircraft.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency, as well as the British Civil Aviation Authority, reported that none of the airlines operating in their territory “Currently working[s] Aircraft in the affected configuration.“
Alaska Air Group Inc. said: And United Airlines Holdings said they discovered several other 737 Max 9 planes with loose screws following a grounding order issued by the Federal Aviation Administration.
Commenting on the incident that occurred last week, Emirates President Tim Clark said that Boeing “I've had quality control problems for a long time now, and this is just another manifestation of that.“
The MAX 9 entered service in 2017, and is the latest in the Boeing 737 series of twin-engine, single-aisle aircraft. There are believed to be approximately 1,300 aircraft in service at present.
The model has been hit by a series of unfortunate accidents in recent years, with two accidents in Ethiopia (2019) and Indonesia (2018) killing a total of 346 people. These tragedies caused the plane to be grounded for 20 months in March 2019.
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