United Airlines found loose bolts on door inserts on several of its grounded 737 Max 9 planes. exploded While the Alaska Airlines flight was in flight.
“Since we began preliminary inspections on Saturday, we have identified incidents that appear to be related to installation issues with the door plug — for example, bolts that require additional tightening,” United said in a statement to CBS News. “These findings will be corrected. We are returning the aircraft safely to service by our tech ops team.”
United Airlines, which operates 79 Boeing 737 Max 9s, did not confirm how many planes had loose bolts.
United said it was working to return the flight to service soon, but expected “significant cancellations” on Tuesday. Alaska Airlines has already canceled 200 Max 9 flights after a Boeing 737 Max 9 plane crashed in mid-air on Friday evening and had to make an emergency landing.
“We are in close contact with operators as they conduct the necessary inspections and will help address any findings,” Boeing said in a statement Monday evening. “We are committed to ensuring that every Boeing aircraft meets design specifications and the highest safety and quality standards. We regret the impact this has had on our customers and their passengers.”
The incident happened on Friday The incident prompted the FAA to ground all of the Boeing 737 Max 9s involved. Until the agency is “satisfied that they are safe,” an FAA spokesman said in a statement Sunday.
Alaska and United are the only two American passenger airlines operating Max 9 aircraft. Companies operate nearly two-thirds of the 215 Max 9 aircraft in service worldwide, according to aviation analytics firm Sirium. Alaska holds 64 MAX 9s.
