Airlines Cancel Hundreds of Flights After Boeing 737 Mid-Air Door Blowout

Alaska Airlines flight 1276, a Boeing 737-900, taxis before takeoff from Portland International Airport in Portland, Ore., on Jan. 6, 2024. Craig Mitchelldyer/AP Photo

Hundreds of flights were canceled after an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft experienced a midair incident involving the blowout of a door plug, prompting federal aviation authorities to order all Max 9 planes grounded for inspection.

An Alaska Airlines flight en route to California from Oregon made an emergency landing on Jan. 5 after the door plug—a panel covering an unused emergency door on the jetliner—blew out, leading to a gaping hole and rapid cabin decompression.

None of the 171 passengers or six crew members were seriously injured. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chair Jennifer Homendy said the two seats next to the part that tore off were unoccupied.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued an emergency directive requiring immediate inspections of certain Boeing 737 Max 9 planes before they can be returned to service because the agency determined that the unsafe condition “is likely to exist or develop in other products of the same type design.”

In a Jan. 8 update, the FAA stated that it had approved a way for carriers to comply with the directive, namely by carrying out “enhanced inspections” that include both left and right cabin door exit plugs, door components, and fasteners.

The FAA’s decision to ground the airplanes prompted hundreds of cancellations.

The damaged part of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9, Flight 1282, which was forced to return to Portland International Airport on Jan. 5, 2024. The Oregonian via AP

Hundreds of Cancellations

Alaska Airlines and United Airlines, which are the only two U.S. carriers to use the Max 9 aircraft, canceled a total of 369 flights as of the early afternoon on Jan. 8, according to tracking site FlightAware.

Alaska Airlines, which operates 65 of the Max 9 planes, canceled 141 flights. The carrier said in a Jan. 8 statement that it was still waiting for further clarification from the FAA before it could begin the inspections as the agency must first approve the enhanced inspection processes for which the carrier must develop detailed instructions for its technicians to follow.

“As we await further information from the FAA and work through these important steps, our technicians have prepared each aircraft to be immediately ready for the required inspection when instructions are finalized,” Alaska Airlines said in the statement.

The company noted that some questions would remain unanswered about the incident on the Alaska Airlines flight while the investigation remains pending.

“We recognize that additional questions remain about the details surrounding Flight 1282 that we are unable to address at this time,” the company stated. “Because this is an active investigation, we must receive permission from the NTSB to provide information about the aircraft and its prior maintenance. We will provide information as soon as the NTSB permits us to do so.”

The missing part was recovered near Portland; the NTSB stated that the discovery could be a vital piece of evidence in the investigation.

United, which canceled 228 flights and has 79 of the affected aircraft in its fleet, told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement that it’s working with the FAA to “clarify the inspection process and requirements for returning the Max 9 aircraft to service.”

“We are working with customers to reaccommodate them on other flights and in some cases have been able to avoid cancellations by switching to other aircraft types,” the company stated.

The FAA estimated that roughly 171 airplanes worldwide would be affected by its enhanced inspection order.

The Incident

Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 was en route to Ontario, California from Portland, Oregon, when the incident occurred, forcing an emergency landing. The incident took place about six minutes into the flight when the aircraft reached an altitude of about 16,000 feet.

The pilot declared an emergency, notifying air traffic control of a depressurization issue.

“We’re declaring an emergency,” the pilot told air traffic control. “We do need to come down to 10,000.”

The FAA confirmed that a “pressurization issue” occurred.

Social media footage shows a window and a portion of a side wall panel missing on the airplane and oxygen masks deployed.

Images of the aircraft shared by passengers onboard seem to indicate that, during the flight, the rear mid-cabin exit door became detached from the aircraft, Flightradar24 reported on its website.

Alaska Airlines said in a statement that “while this type of occurrence is rare, our flight crew was trained and prepared to safely manage the situation.”

The new Boeing 737 MAX 9 was delivered in late October 2023 to Alaska Airlines and certified in early November 2023, according to FAA data.

Boeing said in a statement that it’s looking into the incident.

“We are aware of the incident involving Alaska Airlines Flight 1282,“ the company stated. ”We are working to gather more information and are in contact with our airline customer. A Boeing technical team stands ready to support the investigation.”

Boeing has faced previous issues with its 737 Max 8 model, leading to its grounding worldwide between March 2019 and December 2020.

The groundings followed two fatal crashes involving the model: Lion Air Flight 610 on Oct. 29, 2018, and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 on March 10, 2019, resulting in a combined total of 346 fatalities.

In April 2023, a manufacturing issue was discovered in the 737 Max 8 model related to the installation of fittings in the rear fuselage. Boeing insisted that it wasn’t an immediate safety concern, and the FAA validated that conclusion, allowing affected planes to continue flying while inspections were conducted.

Caden Pearson contributed to this report.