Portland, Ore. — United Airlines said Monday it found loose bolts and other “installation issues” on a part of some Boeing 737 Max 9 jets that were inspected after a mid-flight fuselage blowout on a similar Alaska Airlines jet Friday.
The inspections are focused on plugs used to seal an area set aside for extra emergency doors that are not required on United and Alaska Max 9s. That plug is the part that blew off the Alaska plane as it cruised 16,000 feet (4,900 meters) over Oregon.
“Since we began preliminary inspections on Saturday, we have found instances that appear to relate to installation issues in the door plug – for example, bolts that needed additional tightening,” Chicago-based United said.
The Federal Aviation Administration grounded all Max 9s operated by Alaska and United and some flown by foreign airlines after the terrifying flight on Friday night that left a gaping hole in the fuselage. The plane, which had been heading for Southern California, made it back to Portland and none of the 171 passengers and six crew members was seriously injured.
The Boeing jetliner that suffered the blowout over Oregon had already been restricted from being used for flights to Hawaii after a warning light that could have indicated a pressurization problem lit up on three previous flights.
Alaska Airlines decided not to let the aircraft make long flights over water so that it “could return very quickly to an airport” if the warning light reappeared, said Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, which is leading the investigation.
Homendy cautioned that the pressurization light might be unrelated to Friday’s incident in which a plug covering an unused exit door blew off the Max 9 as it cruised about three miles (4.8 kilometers) over Oregon.
The plugs replace doors that aren’t used on Alaska and United Max 9s, and are also common on passenger jets that are converted to cargo planes.
On Monday, the FAA approved guidelines…
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