The Boeing jetliner that lost a door panel inflight over Oregon on Jan. 5 was not being used for flights to Hawaii after a warning light that could have indicated a pressurization problem lit up on three separate occasions over the past month, a federal official said Sunday, Jan. 7.
Alaska Airlines decided to restrict the aircraft from long flights over water so the plane “could return very quickly to an airport” if the warning light reappeared, said Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board.
Homendy cautioned that the pressurization light might be unrelated to the incident in which a plug covering an unused exit door blew off the Boeing 737 Max 9 as it cruised at about 16,000 feet minutes after taking off from Portland International Airport.
The warning light came on during three previous flights: Dec. 7, Jan. 3 and Jan. 4. Homendy said she didn’t have all the details regarding the Dec. 7 incident but specified the light came on during a flight on Jan. 3 and on Jan. 4 after the plane had landed.
The NTSB said the lost door plug was found Sunday near Portland, by a man who discovered it in his backyard and sent two photos to the safety board. Investigators will examine the plug, which is 26 by 48 inches and weighs 63 pounds, for signs of how it broke free.
The 65 Max 9 jets comprise about 20% of Alaska Airlines’ fleet. The company has pulled the planes from service, pending further instructions from federal officials and thorough inspections. Several hundred flights were canceled over the weekend and Monday, disrupting travel across the airline’s entire system.
The Max 9 is not used on the route that serves Wrangell.
At a news conference Sunday night, Homendy provided new details about the chaotic scene that unfolded on the plane Jan. 5. The explosive rush of air damaged several rows of seats and pulled insulation from the walls. The cockpit door flew open and banged into a lavatory door.
The force ripped the headset off the co-pilot and the captain lost part of her headset. A quick reference checklist kept within easy reach of the pilots flew out of the open cockpit, Homendy said.
The plane made it back to Portland, and none of the 171 passengers and six crew members was seriously injured.
Hours after the incident, the FAA ordered the grounding of 171 of the 218 Max 9s in operation, including all those used by Alaska Airlines and United Airlines, until they can be inspected.
The FAA said Monday the airlines can begin inspections of their Max 9 planes, which have been grounded for several days. The agency said inspections could take from four to eight hours per plane.
Alaska Airlines and United are the only U.S. airlines to fly that particular model of Boeing’s workhorse 737.
Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 took off from Portland at 5:07 p.m. Jan. 5 for a two-hour trip to Ontario, California. About six minutes later, the chunk of fuselage blew out as the plane was climbing at about 16,000 feet.
One of the pilots declared an emergency and asked for clearance to descend to 10,000 feet where the air would be rich enough for passengers to breathe without oxygen masks.
Videos posted online by passengers showed a gaping hole where the paneled-over door had been. They applauded when the plane landed safely about 13 minutes after the blowout.
It was extremely lucky that the airplane had not yet reached cruising altitude, when passengers and flight attendants might be walking around the cabin, Homendy said.
The aircraft involved rolled off the assembly line and received its certification two months ago, according to online FAA records. It had been on 145 flights since entering commercial service Nov. 11, said FlightRadar24, another tracking service. The flight from Portland was the aircraft’s third of the day.
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