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On Friday, an Alaska Airlines flight carrying 177 people made an emergency landing shortly after takeoff. from Portland, Oregon after part of the wall of a new 737 Max 9 plane comes off mid-flight, leaving a large hole side of the airplane.
Amazingly, no one was killed or seriously injured in the incident, although footage of the tragic accident quickly went viral.
As Boeing faces another 737 Max crisis, here’s the latest information you need to know.
Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun said in a new interview with CNBC Wednesday afternoon that he was “devastated” and “emotional” after watching the footage of last Friday’s Alaska Airlines mid-flight explosion. ” he said.
When asked what exactly happened, Calhoun told CNBC: That is wrong and should never happen. ”
But Calhoun said he is “confident” in the FAA’s continued work to “inspect each aircraft one by one” and “make sure they are compliant with our design, which is a proven design.” ” he emphasized.
“Not only does that process prevent accidents, but perhaps more importantly, the data we collect from each test informs every action we take.” company,” Calhoun said.
Still, Calhoun acknowledged that at some point a “high-quality evacuation occurred” that allowed the plane to fly in the first place, and said he looked forward to sharing more details about this after the investigation is concluded. .
Meanwhile, with aviation supplier Spirit AeroSystems under increasing scrutiny, Calhoun told CNBC he has confidence in the company’s CEO, Patrick Shanahan. “We’re not going to blame it there, because certainly it escaped from their factory, but then it escaped from our factory as well,” he said. “So we’re all in this together. We have to solve this.”
“This is a horrific escape,” Calhoun said. “We will take steps to ensure that that never, ever happens.”
737 Max 9 remains grounded
On Saturday, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered most Boeing 737 Max 9 planes temporarily grounded while regulators and Boeing Co. investigate the cause of the accident. The order applies to approximately 171 aircraft.
This resulted in hundreds of flight cancellations, particularly from Alaska Airlines and United Airlines, which both have dozens of 737 Max 9 aircraft.
Alaska Airlines confirmed Wednesday that its Boeing 737 Max 9 will not fly for at least a few more days, extending cancellations of scheduled flights with the plane until Saturday. United Airlines announced that it has canceled 167 Boeing 737 Max 9 flights today and expects more cancellations on Thursday.
“Alaska Airlines regrets the significant inconvenience caused to our customers due to the flight cancellations due to the grounding of these aircraft,” Alaska Airlines said in a statement. “We are working around the clock to re-route affected customers to other flights.”
The top safety inspector investigating the Boeing 737 Max 9 explosion on Wednesday warned regulators against rushing to allow the plane to fly again. National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy told CNN’s Poppy Harlow on “CNN This Morning” on Wednesday that the FAA and Boeing “have to make sure that the We really need information about what happened.”
“We recommend that these vehicles not be returned to service until we fully understand why this happened,” Homendy said. “That tells us what inspections we need to do and what repairs we need to make.”
Meanwhile, Spirit Aerosystems, the Boeing contractor that manufactures the 737 Max 9’s fuselage, says it is now part of the NTSB investigation.
Beyond the aviation industry, the incident has also drawn the attention of lawmakers. In a statement Tuesday, Ohio Republican Sen. J.D. Vance asked the Senate Commerce Committee for a hearing “to assess the quality of the accidents involving the 737 Max, Boeing’s engineering and safety standards, and the FAA and other relevant oversight.” requested that the event be held. Government agency. ”
The White House announced Tuesday that President Joe Biden is monitoring the issue.
Over the past five years, Boeing has repeatedly faced quality and safety problems with its aircraft, leading to long-term groundings of some jets and halted deliveries of others.
The design of the 737 MAX was found to be the cause of two fatal accidents. One occurred in Indonesia in October 2018 and the other in Ethiopia in March 2019. Together, the two crashes killed all 346 people on board the two flights and led to a 20-month grounding. The company’s best-selling jets have sold for more than $21 billion.
Internal communications released during the 737 Max grounding show one employee describing the plane as “designed by clowns and overseen by clowns by monkeys.”
Late last month, Boeing told airlines to inspect all 737 Max jets for possible loose bolts in the rudder system after airlines discovered potential problems with key parts on two planes. requested that it be done.
Its quality and engineering problems extend beyond the 737. Boeing also had to halt deliveries of the 787 Dreamliner for about a year starting in 2021 and twice in 2023 due to quality concerns cited by the FAA. A United Airlines 777 was also grounded after an engine failure sent pieces of the engine flying into houses and onto the ground below.
CEO David Calhoun acknowledged the company’s “mistakes” related to the Alaska Airlines crash during an all-employee “safety meeting” on Tuesday.
“We’re going to acknowledge our mistakes and move on from this first challenge,” Calhoun told staff, according to a readout of a portion of the meeting shared with CNN. “We’re going to work on it 100% and with full transparency every step of the way. We’re going to work with the NTSB. [National Transportation Safety Board] The accident itself is currently being investigated to determine the cause. ”
Company officials previously told CNN that Boeing believes the “error in question” was introduced in the aircraft manufacturing supply chain, but Calhoun pointed out the specific mistake during his presentation. It is not immediately clear whether
Now, investigators want to know more.
“There are a lot of questions about that statement,” Homendy told CNN on Wednesday. “He said there was a mistake, but I want to understand what mistake he was referring to.” She said she has not yet spoken to Calhoun.
In his remarks to employees Tuesday, Calhoun appeared to reference some of the images that have surfaced from the crash, including one showing a gaping hole in the side of the plane.
“When I took that photo, all I could think about was who was sitting in the seat next to the hole in the plane because I didn’t know what was going on,” Calhoun said. Ta. “I have children, I have grandchildren, and so do you. Things like this matter. Every detail matters.”
Calhoun added that he has “confidence” in the ongoing investigation.[s] Every time they take a step, they will reach a conclusion. ”
Despite the problems, Boeing finished its best year since the grounding of the 737 Max in 2019, reporting record new aircraft orders in December and having one of its best sales years ever.
The American aircraft manufacturer reported 1,456 total orders for the year, one of its best years ever. Adjusting for canceled orders, the annual total was 1,314 commercial aircraft, the third best year on record by this metric and the highest total since 2014.
Much of its success is due to the fact that there are only two major airlines worldwide: Boeing and Airbus. That means Boeing probably doesn’t have to worry about being forced out of business, no matter how big of a mistake it makes. Neither company can meet all demand for commercial aircraft and has years-long backlogs.
But problems keep Boeing falling further behind Airbus.
NTSB spokesman Eric Weiss said a preliminary report is expected to be released within three to four weeks.
On Monday night, the NTSB announced it was continuing to recover items that were sucked out of the plane. On Sunday, a Portland schoolteacher discovered part of the fuselage of the plane that landed. I contacted an agency in his backyard. Two mobile phones, believed to have been thrown through a hole in the plane, were also found in a garden and on the side of the road and handed over to investigators.
The early details remain shocking. Damage extended to several rows of the plane. NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said the two seats next to the severed door plug happened to be empty when the explosion occurred, but the headrests were torn off.
United Airlines, which has more Max 9s than any other U.S. airline, said on Monday that an undisclosed number of Boeing 737 Max 9 planes had door plug bolts removed while conducting FAA-mandated inspections of the planes. They announced that they had discovered a looseness.
Alaska Airlines also announced on Monday that loose fittings were found during inspections on some of its 737 Max 9 planes.
– CNN’s Catherine Thorbecke, Chris Isidore, Greg Wallace and Pete Muntean contributed to this report.
