When a door plug flew off and the airslider crashed, Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 returned to its original state in Portland, Ore.
The atmosphere on the plane was “very violent” after a door plug flew off and left a large hole in the side of the plane. The flight carrying 171 passengers and six crew safely returned back in Portland, Ore. There were no serious injuries.
“We’re very fortunate they have found the plug itself,” said John Cox, a former pilot and safety consultant, in an interview with NPR’s Morning Edition.
Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 quickly returned to Portland, Ore., after the blowout. There were no serious injuries. Concerns were raised about the larger cousin of the two crashes that killed more than 300 people. It’s also prompting new questions about the door plug system itself, and whether it’s still safe to fly.
The door plug is not really a door at all. It’s a component that’s designed to fill a hole in the fuselage of the plane where an optional emergency exit would also fit.
Investigation of the Aircraft Door Plug on the MAX Plane and the Alaska Airlines Plane, with the Help of a Microscope at the Aeronautical Institute
Boeing has been using the design for more than a decade without any major incidents, said Cox, who is now a consultant with the company Safety Operating Systems.
“This design has been in use for a number of years and it’s not proven to be problematic at all,” Cox said. He said that the door plugs are on the MAX planes as well as the previous one, the Boeing737-900ER.
The Alaska Airlines plane was delivered in October. An auto-pressurization failure light had illuminated in the plane’s cockpit three times in prior weeks, Homendy said. In case of emergency, Alaska Airlines put in place a restriction that prevented the plane from flying over water to Hawaii, so that it could return more easily to the airport.
We know what happened. We don’t know fully why,” Cox said. “And then the follow up question, of course, is what do we need to do to prevent it from happening again?”
“Are the four bolts there? Are the nuts there? Was there deformation or bending of the bolts, of the holes?” Cox said. “All of those things they’re going to look at to try to understand the forces that resulted in this plug leaving the airplane.”
Homendy explained how the microscopes in their lab allow them to look at component more in depth, including witness marks, paint transfer, and the shape of the door. That can let them know what happened.
FAA Inspection of 737-9 MAX Experiments: Does the Alaska Airlines Flight Happen to a Ground-Locked Boeing Airplane?
“We are grateful the Alaska Airlines crew performed the appropriate procedures to land the airplane with all passengers and crew safe,” the company said in a statement.
At Spirit AeroSystems, our main focus is the quality of the aircraft structures we deliver. The partnership between Boeing and Spirit continues, and we continue to work together on this matter.
The FAA said on Monday that it’s permissible for carriers to inspect about 170 Boeing Max 9 planes that were grounded after the incident on Friday night.
The FAA’s top priority is making Americans safe, the agency said. “Boeing 737-9 aircraft will remain grounded until operators complete enhanced inspections which include both left and right cabin door exit plugs, door components, and fasteners.”
The agency said that operators have to complete any corrective actions based on the findings from the inspections. The FAA said that it would take about eight hours to inspect an aircraft.
“We agree with and fully support the FAA’s decision to require immediate inspections of 737-9 MAX airplanes with the same configuration as the affected airplane,” said Boeing commercial airlines President and CEO Stan Deal and safety officer Mike Delaney in an email to the company’s employees.
“Right now, this still looks like it’s a one-off,” Cox said. “It’s something that happened to the airplane.” He said the problems with the MAX series are another blow to Boeing’s reputation. “An operator around the world is going to look at this and say, OK, if we buy the Max, are we buying a problem?”
The explosion on Friday, December 7, 2006: When the engine started to go black, the door was plugged in, and the next day, three passengers were on board
Homendy said there was a door plug in Bob’s backyard. Two cell phones were also found – one on the side of the road and the other in a yard, she added.
On three flights prior to Friday’s, the plane’s auto pressurization fail light came on, Homendy said. It happened on December 7 and January 3 and 4. The light coming on is “very benign,” Homendy said, and it was tested by maintenance crews and reset.
They put on their masks. Their quick reference checklist flew out of the cockpit door, which had flung open and jammed the door to the bathroom, which was empty. The first officer had lost her headset, so the captain handed her the quick reference handbook. The crew put their oxygen masks on and turned on the speakers to alert those in the cabin.
Homendy said that communication was a serious issue. “The flight attendants reported that it was difficult to get information from the flight deck, and the flight deck was having trouble also communicating.” Two flight attendants who were at the front of the plane are to be interviewed by the National Transportation Safety Board, as are two people in the back of the plane. There are 178 people on the plane. The 171 people on board included four unaccompanied minors and three babies, who were in the laps of caregivers, Homendy said.
Homendy applauded the work of the flight crew and attendants. Homendy said the flight attendants were focused on what was happening with the children after the explosion. “Were they safe? Were they secure? Did they have their lap belts on, and did they have their masks on? And they did. Homendy stated that the Federal Aviation Administration and Alaska Airlines urge caregivers to strap infants under age two into car seats if they don’t already have one.
There was a plug on the left side of the plane. The two seats near the door were empty, no one was sitting in them. The tray table is missing and there are no headrests on those seats. The seats have been sent to NTSB to be inspected. There was a lot of damage in that area. The seal to the window was undamaged, Homendy said. She said that those were not critical to the structure of the aircraft. The Oxygen mask that was still in the ceiling was being investigated by theNTSB. Homendy said it either did not deploy or someone must have put it back up after the incident. There were additional injuries in row 1 through 4 in each of the 27 and 31 rows. There was no damage to the exterior of the plane.