Two US Airlines Report Loose Hardware in Multiple Boeing MAX 9 Planes
The Facts
Two US airlines reported finding deficiencies in multiple Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes on Monday, days after a door plug — a piece of a plane's fuselage that replaces what would be an emergency exit door — came loose and ended up in a teacher's back garden in Oregon.
Of the 220 seats on Friday's Alaskan Airlines Flight 1282 from Portland to Southern California, just under 50 were empty — including seats 26A and 26B, which was where the door plug flew off shortly after take-off. According to reporting by CNN, citing passengers and a video, headrests were ripped off their seats and items were sucked out of the aircraft, including "a boy’s shirt which was ripped clean off his body."
The Spin
Narrative A
While thankfully only causing minor injuries, the potential risk involved in the incident that occurred on the Alaska Airlines flight should be discussed from a worst-case scenario perspective. Since the door plug blew out only minutes into the flight, everyone was still buckled; but if it had blown out at a cruising altitude of 30K feet, this could have been a fatal tragedy. An intensive investigation needs to take place.
Narrative B
While no one can doubt the horror of such an incident, particularly for those on board, the FAA and the airlines it oversees have taken every safety measure possible to investigate this matter and fix issues. When the 737 MAX 9 is back in the air, passengers should feel safe in knowing that their aircraft has been thoroughly inspected. For now, the only worry anyone should have is over potential flight delays.