The US federal aviation agency (FAA, in English) ordered this Saturday the “temporary immobilization” of certain Boeing 737 MAX 9 operated by US airlines or on US territory following the incident with an aircraft that lost part of its fuselage in mid-flight.
Through a statement, the FAA reported that an Emergency Airworthiness Directive (EAD) will soon be issued that will require operators to inspect aircraft before conducting new flights.
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“The required inspections will last between four and eight hours per plane”said the federal agency, which estimated that 171 aircraft were affected worldwide.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating what happened and has moved several teams to the area to determine the causes of an incident that did not report any injuries.
An Alaska Airlines flight made an emergency landing at the airport from which it departed, in Portland (Oregon, USA), after a piece of its fuselage detached in the air. pic.twitter.com/e4WTOw3qAu
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Boeing 737 Max loses its fuselage
The FAA’s decision comes hours after one of these aircraft lost part of its fuselage in mid-flight, although it was able to land safely at the Portland airport.
“Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 returned safely to Portland International Airport around 5 pm local time on Friday, January 5 (01:00 am Saturday GMT), after the crew reported a pressurization issue. The plane was headed to Ontario International Airport in California. the agency said in a statement after what happened.
According to images provided by some passengers and that are being broadcast by US media, a fuselage panel, including the window, detached shortly after takeoff.
A witness cited by CNN says that the fuselage detached when the plane gained altitude and that he did not realize until he was able to remove his oxygen mask.
The plane, a Boeing 737 Max, carried 171 passengers and six crew members and was only in flight for approximately 35 minutes after taking off from Portland Airport.
Maintenance
The airline, Alaska Airlines, decided as “precautionary measure” temporarily ground its 65 Boeing MAX-9 aircraft, which will fly “only after completing full maintenance and safety inspections.”
“We are working with Boeing and regulators to understand what happened tonight and will share updates as more information becomes available.”said Ben Minicucci, CEO of Alaska Airlines.
Also through the social network X, the Boeing company said that they were “aware of the incident involving the Alaska Airlines flight.”
“We are working to gather more information and are in contact with our airline customer. “A Boeing technical team is ready to support the investigation,” they said.
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