In a harrowing incident that left the world aghast, a Boeing aircraft found itself at the center of a fresh controversy when, flying at 5,000 meters, a loud bang was heard, and a massive hole appeared in the plane's side after an emergency door was blown away. This incident involved a Boeing 737MAX9 plane operated by Alaska Airlines, which had to make an emergency return shortly after takeoff. Thankfully, the 180 passengers and crew landed safely. Notably, the aircraft had only been certified just over two months ago, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The U.S. regulators responded promptly by issuing a grounding order, affecting 171 Boeing 737MAX9 planes worldwide, with airlines from the U.S., Panama, to Turkey halting operations for this model.
Following the incident, Boeing's share prices nosedived, experiencing a 7.5% drop in the German market and over an 8% fall pre-market in the U.S. Spirit AeroSystems, a major supplier for Boeing, also saw its shares fall by more than 16% pre-market.
The Alaska Airlines flight, numbered 1282, was en route from Portland, Oregon to Ontario, California when the incident occurred. Passengers recounted a loud bang around 20 minutes after takeoff, followed by visible damage to the cabin side. The plane was around 4,876 meters in the air when it had to make an emergency descent.
The Boeing 737Max 9 is Boeing's longest single-aisle model, featuring a modular body design that allows for additional emergency exits to be installed flexibly based on the number of seats. On the Max 9, Boeing installed an extra cabin exit door behind the wing and in front of the rear exit door. This door is activated when the seating is dense to meet evacuation requirements. However, on Alaska Airlines' planes, this door was not activated and permanently sealed.
The grounding order issued by the FAA, which covers about 171 planes, mandates operators to inspect these aircraft before resuming flights as per the directive. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board have announced an investigation into the incident. Boeing stated it was aware of the incident and is gathering more information to assist in the investigation.
The incident has once again cast a shadow over Boeing, already struggling with trust issues after two fatal crashes involving its 737MAX8 planes in 2018 and 2019, which led to a global grounding of the model for nearly two years. As Boeing prepares to increase production of its "cash cow" model and rectify past quality defects, this recent incident has refocused attention on Boeing's manufacturing flaws.
This incident adds to Boeing's challenges, already facing production pauses and FAA directives for different models due to quality issues. For CEO Dave Calhoun, who recently declared the year crucial for Boeing's turnaround, this incident is another setback in his efforts to stabilize the company after five turbulent years.
