United Airlines found loose bolts in door seals on several of its grounded 737 MAX 9 planes days after the door seals failed. Turn off An Alaska Airlines plane in flight.
“Since we began initial inspections on Saturday, we have found instances that appear to be related to installation issues with the door seal — for example, bolts that need additional tightening,” United said in a statement to CBS News. By our technical operations team to safely return the aircraft to service.”
United Airlines, which owns 79 Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes, would not confirm how many planes had loose bolts.
United said it was working to return the plane to service as soon as possible but expected “significant cancellations” on Tuesday. It has already canceled 200 MAX 9 flights after an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 plane was involved in a mid-air accident on Friday evening that required an emergency landing.
“While operators conduct required inspections, we remain in close contact with them and will help address any and all findings,” Boeing said in a statement Monday evening. “We are committed to ensuring that every Boeing aircraft meets design specifications and the highest standards of safety and quality. We regret the impact this has had on our customers and their passengers.”
Friday incident The Federal Aviation Administration prompted the grounding of all types of Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft involved in the accident An FAA spokesperson said in a statement Sunday that the agency is “convinced they are safe.”
Alaska and United are the only U.S. airlines flying the Max 9. The companies operate nearly two-thirds of the 215 Max 9 planes in service around the world, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. Alaska has 64 MAX 9s.
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