The Boeing 737-9 Max aircraft, which were decommissioned after a frightening incident, will soon be allowed to take to the air again. The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has now approved the procedure for the inspections of the machines it ordered. Such a test takes more than ten hours per aircraft. Alaska Airlines now wants to add the first inspected aircraft to its flight schedule on Friday, while United Airlines is aiming for Sunday.
On January 5, shortly after take-off, a part of the fuselage broke out of a virtually new Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-9 Max with more than 170 people on board. Instead, some configurations of the more seat type have a door. However, the affected variant of the 737-9 Max instead has a cover that closes the opening.
The FAA and other authorities ordered all approximately 170 similar aircraft of the type to be grounded for investigation. No one was seriously injured in the incident – however, by a lucky coincidence, the two seats directly at the opening remained empty.
The FAA now specifically instructed fasteners to be inspected and tightened if necessary. Alaska and United had also discovered loose fastening parts on other aircraft of the type at this point. Airlines from the EU do not have any aircraft of the affected model.
The incident now has major consequences for Boeing. The FAA announced that it would not authorize any further expansion of production of all models of the 737 Max for the time being. Boeing’s quality control problems are “unacceptable,” emphasized agency chief Mike Whitaker. Now the FAA wants to take a close look at the production of the 737 Max.
The expansion stop is a problem for Boeing: The US aircraft manufacturer is only processing the many 737 Max orders slowly and is falling behind its European rival Airbus. Boeing is currently building around 30 Max family aircraft per month. Next year, monthly output should be increased to 50 machines.