Things haven’t looked so bad for Boeing lately. The American aircraft manufacturer, which hasn’t exactly been doing well in recent years, was even able to report a small prestige success shortly before Christmas. Lufthansa announced that it would order aircraft from Boeing again. The German airline is initially ordering 40 Boeing aircraft of this type 737-Max fixed, plus options for 60 additional jets. It was a sign, as Lufthansa has been relying exclusively on aircraft from Boeing’s competitor Airbus for short and medium-haul routes since 2016. Does Lufthansa boss Carsten Spohr already regret the decision?
Boeing has been in crisis mode again at least since the weekend. At an altitude of almost 4,900 meters there was a dramatic incident during a new one 737-Max 9 the American airline Alaska Airlines. A window, including the outer wall and cladding, broke out last Friday evening after take-off on a jet that was only eight weeks old and had 177 people on board, leaving a hole the size of a door at the height of the rows of seats. The pilots were able to turn the machine around and make an emergency landing. Luckily there were only a few minor injuries. The US traffic safety authority NTSB said the cause of the incident was still unclear.
Since then, the US aviation authority FAA has stopped allowing 171 aircraft of this type to take off. “They will remain grounded until the FAA is satisfied that they are safe,” the agency said Sunday. Other authorities worldwide have also ordered reviews, too the European authority EASA, which also announced that no jets were currently affected in Europe. Most aircraft of the Boeing model 737 Max 9 are operated in the USA by United and Alaska Airlines. Turkish Airlines, Panama’s Copa Airlines and Aeromexico have also imposed a temporary ban on flights. At Lufthansa it is said that the group currently does not have an aircraft of type 737-Max9 operate. The specific model Max 9 I’m not one of the recently ordered ones either. From the model 737 Max There are variants in different sizes.
A teacher discovered parts of the plane in his garden
The incident at the weekend was of considerable proportions: parts of the seat next to the part of the torso that had broken out and the headrest were missing. The seat itself was unoccupied during the flight. The broken part is apparently a panel that is installed in some aircraft instead of an additional emergency exit. These emergency exits are mainly available on low-cost airlines because they have more seats and require additional evacuation routes. This does not apply to jets with fewer seats. For passengers, the area then looks like a normal window seat.
The head of the US traffic safety authority NTSB, Jennifer Homendy, speaks about the incident at Alaska Air.
(Photo: Craig Mitchelldyer/AP)
NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said it was very fortunate that the incident was not more tragic. The discovery of the previously missing aircraft part could now provide clues as to what exactly happened. A teacher in the city of Portland, Oregon, discovered the piece in his yard, the NTSB said. The authority will investigate the so-called door stopper.
A warning light had flashed on the plane on three previous flights, it said. The lamp indicated the failure of the automatic pressure equalization system. These were “harmless” incidents that were reported and checked. It is not known whether there is a connection between the lighting of the lamp and the demolition of the cabin part. However, the warnings led to Alaska Airlines no longer using the aircraft for flights across the ocean to Hawaii in order to be able to quickly return to an airport in the event of another flare-up.
Boeing boss Dave Calhoun wrote to the company’s employees over the weekend that Boeing would work transparently with the regulatory authorities to clarify the cause and prevent further accidents. The 737 is Boeing’s best-selling model. Calhoun’s goal of making Boeing as successful as it once was is now in jeopardy. Boeing shares fell after the incident.
Because it’s not the first problem. For the 737-Max A global flight ban was in effect from April 2019 to the end of 2020, and in some countries even longer, following two crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia. Boeing’s reputation suffered massively; it turned out that the flight controls had been developed too quickly and poorly. The Americans wanted a competitor model for the successful Airbus A320neoseries have. Boeing now has it Max on the instructions of the aviation safety authorities in the USA and Europe, the aircraft is allowed to fly again with the changes. There have been no other similar incidents since then.
Boeing’s image had recently recovered somewhat, which also led to Lufthansa ordering again. As of November, Boeing had received orders for 686 aircraft in the series for 2023. However, the US group has lost market share. Airbus had sold more than 1,300 short- and medium-haul aircraft so far in 2023 – twice as many as Boeing.