Summary
- The Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX aircraft involved within the blowout incident had previous pressurization warnings and was not getting used for flights to Hawaii.
- Alaska Airlines grounded all its Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes after the incident but briefly brought back 18 of them before grounding all 65 again attributable to an ongoing investigation.
- The incident has led to significant flight cancelations for Alaska Airlines and United Airlines, each of that are major operators of the kind.
The Boeing 737 MAX aircraft of Alaska Airlines that experienced a blowout recently was restricted for long flights over water, it has been learned. In accordance with a federal official, the plane had previous pressurization-related warnings before the blowout incident and was not getting used for flights to Hawaii.
No long overwater flights
It has emerged that the Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft involved within the recent Alaska Airlines inflight blowout incident was not getting used by the airline for flights to Hawaii. In accordance with the Associated Press, the National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said that the plane had warning lights lit up on three different flights, indicating an issue with pressurization.
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As such, Alaska was being cautious about not using the plane on routes requiring long flights over water, corresponding to those to Hawaii. Homendy said that this was done so the plane in case a pressurization-related issue arose during a flight. Nonetheless, she noted that it isn’t certain whether the pressurization warning lights in previous flights and the blowout incident are related.
The investigation is underway, and we’ll should wait for a final official report to find out the reason for the incident, but Homendy explained the severity of the situation when the inflight blowout occurred. She said,
Alaska Airlines grounds all 737 MAX 9 planes
Naturally, the primary response of Alaska Airlines after the incident was to ground all Boeing 737 MAX 9 variants in its fleet. The carrier operates 65 MAX 9s and grounded the kind temporarily earlier as a precaution.
Nonetheless, Alaska brought back 18 of its MAX 9s into service shortly after. But the choice was short-lived. It has now been reported that each one 65 of Alaska’s 737 MAX 9s are once more grounded until further notice and investigation. The airline released an announcement that said,
Photo: Kevin Hackert | Shutterstock
Which Airlines Fly The Boeing 737 MAX 9?
Two US carriers share over 13,000 scheduled flights operated by the variant this month.
This has obviously impacted operations at Alaska, with the airline canceling many flights as a consequence. On Sunday, 170 flights were canceled, and 60 were canceled on Monday.
United Airlines, which is the biggest operator of the 737 MAX 9 variant (79 planes in its fleet), needed to cancel 270 flights over Saturday and Sunday. Thankfully, an extra 145 flights were saved after the carrier switched to other aircraft types.
It stays to be seen how Alaska Airlines, United, and other carriers manage their schedules in the approaching days until the FAA deems the 737 MAX 9 fit to fly again.
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