A American Civil Aviation Regulatory Agency (FAA) announced that all 737 MAX 9s will have to be grounded until Boeing clarifies the mid-flight crash of a door on an Alaska Airlines aircraft.
“For the safety of American passengers, the FAA [sigla inglesa para Federal Aviation Administration] will keep the Boeing 737-9 MAX on the ground until exhaustive inspections and maintenance operations are completed and the data collected is analyzed,” the regulator said in a statement released on Friday.
On January 5, a cabin door of a Boeing 737 MAX 9 came loose during an Alaska Airlines flight between Portland (Oregon) and Ontario (California), the incident causing only a few minor injuries and the plane managed to land in security at the airport of origin.
The FAA launched an investigation into the incident, which was the first major safety issue during a flight on a Boeing plane since the deadly 737 MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019, which led to a long grounding of that model.
“We are working to ensure nothing like this happens again,” said FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker. “Our only concern is the safety of American passengers and the Boeing 737-9 MAX will not fly again until we are completely convinced that it is safe,” he emphasized.
The FAA said it needed additional information from Boeing before approving the manufacturer’s proposed inspection and maintenance instructions.
The regulator stated that it “will not approve the inspection and maintenance process until it has analyzed data from the first round of 40 inspections”, but found the “exhaustive nature of the instructions carried out by Boeing in terms of inspections and maintenance” to be “encouraging”.
On Friday, the FAA announced that it intends to increase oversight over Boeing’s production and manufacturing, notably by auditing the 737 MAX production line and suppliers.
The regulator said it was also evaluating the use of an independent third party to oversee Boeing inspections.
“It is time to re-examine the delegation of power and assess the associated safety risks. The grounding of the 737-9 and the numerous production-related issues identified in recent years require us to examine all options to reduce risk,” said Whitaker .
Hundreds of flights had to be canceled due to the FAA’s decision to ground the 737-9.
Alaska Airlines, which operates a fleet of 65 aircraft of this model, announced that it had to cancel 110 to 150 flights per day until Tuesday.
Read Also: US Aviation Regulator Investigates Boeing Over Plane Incident
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Source: https://www.noticiasaominuto.com/mundo/2479760/faa-mantem-em-terra-avioes-boeing-737-max-9-ate-inspecoes-exaustivas
