An Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 had to make an emergency landing in January because part of the cabin wall was torn out. US accident investigators have now presented an initial report. Accordingly, important bolts on the fuselage part were not replaced.
According to the US traffic safety authority NTSB, the necessary fasteners were not present in the Boeing 737 MAX 9 of the US airline Alaska Airlines, which had to make an emergency landing because a cabin part was torn out. According to a preliminary NTSB investigation released Tuesday, four bolts were missing from the affected aircraft part.
The agency collected documents and photos showing that Boeing employees removed four bolts from affected areas to repair damaged parts of the plane’s interior during an inspection at the Renton, Washington, plant before the plane was delivered in October substitute. Further photographs taken after the operation show that the bolts had not been reinstalled in at least three places.
Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun said after the report was released: “Whatever the final conclusions, Boeing is responsible for what happened. An incident like this should not happen on an aircraft leaving our factory.”
Plane had to make an emergency landing in Portland
Part of the cabin wall of the affected Boeing broke off on January 5th shortly after takeoff from Portland in the US state of Oregon. The plane then had to turn around and make an emergency landing in Portland. Although no one was injured in the incident, experts say it could have resulted in a catastrophe.
The airline United Airlines, which has the world’s largest fleet of affected aircraft, announced that it had found loose screws during inspections of the Boeing aircraft.