737 MAX Grounded Again | United Airlines found Loose Bolts On Five Boeing Door Plugs

Recently, 171 Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircrafts were grounded after FAA-mandated inspections (Emergency Airworthiness Directives-EAD) for all Boeing 737 MAX 9 Fleets after Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 lost a part of its panel, emergency exit door mid air.

Following a blowout on Alaska Airlines flight 1282 on Friday night, United Airlines started FAA-mandated inspections and has since confirmed that it has discovered loose bolts and other problems affecting emergency exit door plugs on at least five Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft in its fleet.

Boeing finally released a “Multi-Operator Message” on Monday, outlining the inspection procedures affected airlines must follow to make sure the exit plug is installed correctly. Only then did the Chicago-based carrier start thoroughly inspecting the 79 grounded 737-9 aircraft in its fleet.

Shortly after the inspections, United found trouble with 5 of its Boeing 737 Max 9 Fleet. The airline said examples of these issues include “bolts that needed additional tightening.These findings will be remedied by our Tech Ops team to safely return the aircraft to service,” a United spokesperson explained.

On Monday, United canceled at least 200 flights that were scheduled to be operated by its grounded 737-9 fleet. On Tuesday, the troubled airline proactively canceled 121 flights as well, though more cancellations are anticipated in the next few hours.

It is still too early to say whether problems with other grounded aircraft at United and Alaska will be found in the coming days. Alaska Airlines has not yet started the inspection process of its ground 737-9s. The five United aircraft that have been found to have loose bolts and other problems were delivered to the airline between November 2022 and September 2023, according to Jon Ostrower, editor-in-chief of the Air Current.

The Alaska Airlines aircraft which suffered the blowout was delivered factory fresh to the airline in late October 2023.

The airline refused to comment on Monday when asked what maintenance the aircraft had received in the days and weeks before the crash on Friday, citing the necessity to obtain approval from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) before disclosing such details.

Alaska Airlines temporarily removed the aircraft’s so-called ETOPS certification, which is required for twin-engined aircraft that may have to operate with only one operable engine for more than an hour before it reaches a diversion point, due to reports that in the weeks prior to Friday’s accident, the pilots had received pressurization warnings. The door plug that blew out of Alaska flight 1282 has now been retrieved by the NTSB, and it is believed that this will offer crucial hints as to the accident’s cause.