ANCHORAGE – Alaska Airlines has begun preliminary inspections on some of its Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft this weekend, adding that up to 20 planes could undergo inspection, the company said on Jan 13.
The carrier also said it would initiate and enhance its own layers of quality control to the production of the airplane and has initiated a review of Boeing’s production quality and control systems, including Boeing’s production vendor oversight.
The moves follow a dramatic incident on Jan 5, when Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 from Portland executed an emergency landing after a panel known as a “door plug” blew out mid-flight. There were no fatalities or serious injuries.
The FAA has launched a safety probe into the incident, the first major in-flight safety issue on a Boeing plane since fatal 2018 and 2019 737 Max crashes that led to a lengthy grounding of the aircraft.
Alaska Airlines said that it engaged in a candid conversation with Boeing’s chief executive officer and leadership team earlier in the week to discuss their quality improvement plans to ensure the delivery of the highest quality aircraft off the production line for Alaska.
The airline said that the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will require more data from Boeing before it approves the airline manufacturer’s proposed inspections and the maintenance instructions used to conduct the final inspections to safely return the 737 Max 9 to service.
Alaska Airlines, which operates 65 737 Max 9 planes, said it was cancelling around 110-150 flights a day through to Jan 16 due to the grounding.
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