The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Saturday requested immediate safety inspections of 171 Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft, which have been grounded after the accident that occurred on Friday in an aircraft of this type of the company Alaska Airlines.

On Friday at approximately 18:30 (local time, 04:30 Saturday Greek time), shortly after an Alaska Airlines flight took off from Portland Airport bound for Ontario, California, a door opened and detached from the plane’s fuselage , as pointed out by the US transportation safety agency NTSB.

Under FAA guidelines, airlines “must perform an inspection on aircraft prior to each new flight,” the agency said in a statement, estimating that the inspection process takes 4 to 8 hours per aircraft.

According to figures provided by Boeing to AFP, around 218 737 MAX 9 aircraft have been delivered to date.

Shortly before the FAA’s announcement, Alaska Airlines had already indicated that it was grounding all 65 of its aircraft of this type.

The plane, which was carrying 171 passengers and six crew members, was at an altitude of nearly 5,000 feet at the time of the incident, the NTSB noted.

An unused door that had been covered with a cover was detached, leaving only a window visible, the same source added, a modification that Boeing recommends to its customers who request it.

This extra door is usually installed by low-cost airlines that use extra seats and need more escape exits. However, these doors are permanently closed or disabled on aircraft with fewer seats, such as those of Alaska Airlines.

“very lucky”

After turning around, the aircraft returned to Portland Airport, where it landed safely.

There were a few minor injuries from the incident, but as NTSB pointed out, there were no passengers in the two seats located directly next to the detached door.

“We are very fortunate that this did not end in something more tragic,” said the head of the agency, Jennifer Homedi, during a press conference she gave late yesterday. Parts of the seat next to the door are missing, including the headrest.

For his part, US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttizage spoke to X about a “terrifying incident”, while adding that he is in contact with the FAA.

Inspections

Yesterday Alaska Airlines told X that “more than a quarter” of its 737 MAX 9 fleet had been inspected after the accident and added that, so far, it had found “nothing of concern”.

Homedi revealed that the detached door is believed to have fallen over the Portland suburb of Cedar Hills, and asked local residents to report it if they find it.

The plane involved in the accident was certificated in November, according to FAA data.

“We agree with the FAA and support its decision to request an immediate inspection of the 737-9,” Boeing said in a written statement to AFP.

American Airlines Unitedwhich owns the majority of such aircraft, noted that it has grounded 46 of them pending inspection, while 33 have already been inspected.

The company Aeromexico has decided to ground all 737 MAX 9s until the Panamanian airline is also inspected Copa Airlines suspended the use of 21 aircraft. THE Turkish Airlines withdrew the five 737 MAX 9s it has for inspection, according to a post by its representative on X.

For its part, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) adopted the FAA’s order for the 737 MAX 9, but pointed out that no EU member state has such aircraft.

The accident occurred after the 737 MAX has experienced a series of technical problems in recent years, including two aircraft crashes.

The two crashes, which killed 346 people in October 2018 and March 2019, grounded the 737 MAX 9 for 20 months and forced changes to the flight control system.

More recently, Boeing has been forced to delay deliveries due to problems with the aircraft’s fuselage.

By the end of December, the company had delivered a total of more than 1,370 737 MAX aircraft, with orders exceeding 4,000.