What happened to the plane?
Recently, Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 suffered a blowout, causing a huge hole in the aircraft's main body. The Boeing 737 Max 9 aeroplane was flying from Portland (Oregon) to Ontario (California) in the USA. Shortly after taking off, a door plug broke away.
The door plug was used to fill an emergency escape built into the plane but was not required by Alaska Airlines. After the blowout, the cabin depressurised. This made a lot of air rush in, pulling the crew's headsets off. Phones and other things flew out of the plane.
Oh no! What happened to the passengers?
The plane had to make an emergency landing in Portland. It landed safely, and everyone on board was safe. Luckily, no one was sitting next to the door. However, some passengers suffered some injuries.
What was the reason behind the blowout?
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) found the door plug. They say this discovery could help them understand why the blowout happened. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), NTSB, Boeing, Alaska Airlines, and other groups are investigating what happened.
The investigators have identified the parts that might be responsible for the big door plug coming loose, but they're still trying to figure out why it happened.
What’s the aftermath of this incident?
The FAA grounded many Boeing 737 Max 9 planes after the incident occurred. Right now, only two U.S. airlines use the Boeing 737 Max 9: Alaska Airlines and United Airlines. Both companies have grounded their planes as investigations are ongoing.
They say they found some bolts were not tight on the door plugs of some of their Boeing 737 Max 9 planes. Alaska Airlines also found loose hardware on several planes.
After the incident, many countries and airlines stopped their Boeing 737 Max 9 planes to check them. India finished checking their Boeing 737 MAX 8 plane. None of the country's airlines operates the 737 MAX 9 aircraft. Let’s hope the investigation shows what was wrong so that such accidents can be avoided.
