The passengers glimpsed the abyss, but they can explain it. The American company Alaska Airlines (AA) yesterday grounded its 65 Boeing 737 Max after a door came off in mid-flight on one of its planes shortly after take-off and they had depressurization problems.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) later explained that it ordered that at least 171 more devices of this model operated by airlines in the United States or on US territory remain in the hangars.
"We require an immediate inspection before it flies again," emphasized Mike Whitaker, administrator of the FAA. "Security marks our action while we collaborate in the investigation of Alaska Airlines flight 1282", he clarified. India's regulator had already announced a similar order.
The AA plane had to make an emergency landing after taking off from Portland Airport in Oregon on Friday. The company reported that the plane, carrying 174 passengers and 6 crew members, landed safely, with no injuries.
The Boeing 737 Max has a troubled history. After two Max 8 crashes (Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines) that killed hundreds of people in the span of a few months between 2018 and 2019, all Max were grounded worldwide .
Alaska Airlines flight 1282 was destined for Ontario, California. The company issued a statement in which it reported that one of its devices "had experienced an incident" after take off.
After a few hours, already on Saturday, the company announced the temporary decision and as a "precautionary measure" to take the entire Boeing Max 9 fleet out of service. The decision caused the cancellation of dozens of services. Alaska is one of the companies that has more 737 Max 9 in its fleet.
Boeing noted that they were "aware of the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 incident" and clarified that they were "working to gather more information." They insisted they were in touch with their customers.
The plane began the return operation when it was at an altitude of about 4,875 meters, about six minutes after it took off. It left at 5:07 p.m. West Coast time on Friday and returned to land at 5:26 p.m. The device was new and received certification in November. This plane is a modernized version of the venerable 737 that is usually used for domestic flights.
One of the passengers sent a photo to the media showing a hole in the interior of the plane, near the seats. Passengers described a bewildering experience during the 15 minutes the plane maneuvered to return to the Portland airport.
As the yellow masks danced over their heads, a strong wind blew through the hole that exposed the darkness of the sky and the lights on the ground. The crew alerted that there was a pressurization problem before the landing was made, according to a statement from the Federal Aviation Administration, which has opened an investigation.
The Alaska Airlines Flight Attendants Association explained that "the decompression was explosive" and one of the crew suffered minor injuries. A female passenger described to the press that she heard a deafening noise and immediately observed the hole. "I opened my eyes and saw the yellow mask in front of me. I looked to the left and noticed that a piece of the device was missing", he pointed out. "The first thing I thought was that I was going to die," he confessed.
Other witnesses reported that there was no one sitting next to the area that came off the soca-rel, but a child and his mother were in the adjacent seats. The flight attendants helped them and got them out of there.
