Federal officials on Saturday ordered the immediate grounding of some Boeing 737 Max 9 jetliners until they are inspected after an Alaska Airlines plane suffered a blowout that left a gaping hole in the side of the fuselage.
The required inspections take around four to eight hours per aircraft and affect about 171 airplanes worldwide.
The inspections are having a ripple effect on airports across the country.
Cancellations are primarily impacting Alaska Airlines and United Airlines flights, including at least one United flight canceled at Jacksonville International Airport on Monday. Those airlines represent 27% of flights canceled worldwide Monday, according to FlightAware.com.
United says there are ways to adjust if your flight is impacted by the 737 Max 9 inspections. On your phone, using the United App, you can use the delay and cancellation options to change your flight, see bag info and more.
Use Agent on Demand if you’re within 24 hours of your flight or call one of the airline’s contact centers for help.
Even if you’re flying a different airline, it’s always wise to check your flight status before you head to the airport.
An Alaska Airlines jetliner blew out a portion of its fuselage shortly after takeoff 3 miles above Oregon late Friday, forcing the pilots to make an emergency landing as its 171 passengers and six crew members donned oxygen masks.
No one was seriously hurt as the depressurized plane returned safely to Portland International Airport about 20 minutes after departure.
It was extremely lucky that the airplane had not yet reached cruising altitude, when passengers and flight attendants might be walking around the cabin, National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said.
“No one was seated in 26A and B where that door plug is, the aircraft was around 16,000 feet and only 10 minutes out from the airport when the door blew,” she said.
The headrests were gone on seats 26A and 25A and 26A was missing part of its seatback. There were also clothing items strewn about the area, Homendy said.
There has not been a major crash involving a U.S. passenger carrier within the country since 2009 when a Colgan Air flight crashed near Buffalo, New York, killing all 49 people onboard and one person on the ground.
In 2013, an Asiana Airlines flight arriving from South Korea crashed at San Francisco International Airport, killing three of the 307 people onboard.
Two Max 8 jets crashed in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people and leading to a near two-year worldwide grounding of all Max 8 and Max 9 planes. They returned to service only after Boeing made changes to an automated flight control system implicated in the crashes.
Last year the FAA told pilots to limit use of an anti-ice system on the Max in dry conditions because of concern that inlets around the engines could overheat and break away, possibly striking the plane.
Max deliveries have been interrupted at times to fix manufacturing flaws. The company told airlines in December to inspect the planes for a possible loose bolt in the rudder-control system.