KUALA LUMPUR – The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has recommended that operators of the Boeing 737-900ER aircraft visually inspect their mid-exit door plugs as an added security measure.
The advisory was for flight operators to ensure the door is properly secured even though the Boeing 737-900ER is not part of the newer MAX fleet but has the same door plug design.
“In accordance with their Safety Management Systems, operators conducted additional inspections on the Boeing 737-900ER following the loss of a mid-cabin door plug on a Boeing 737-9 MAX airplane on January 5,” FAA said in a statement.
This comes amid an investigation into the incident involving Alaska Airlines’ Boeing 737 MAX 9, where a door plug flew off mid-flight causing passengers to be exposed to the open air.
In response, US regulators grounded 171 jets from the 737 MAX 9 fleet with the same configuration as the Alaska Airlines plane.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators have suggested that the part was not affixed properly.
It added that the door plug belonging to the Alaska plane was made in Malaysia by aircraft parts manufacturer Spirit AeroSystems.
From Malaysia, the part was transported to the Boeing supplier factory in Wichita, Kansas, and then by train to the 737 factory in Renton, Washington.
Boeing has been in trouble before due to the fatal 2018 and 2019 crashes involving the 737 model, which led to a lengthy global grounding of the aircraft. – January 22, 2024