United Airlines Finds Loose Bolts During Boeing 737 Max 9 Inspections

NEWARK, NEW JERSEY - NOVEMBER 30: United Airlines planes sit on the runway at Newark Liberty International Airport on November 30, 2021 in Newark, New Jersey. The United States, and a growing list of other countries, has restricted flights from southern African countries due to the detection of the COVID-19 Omicron variant last week in South Africa. Stocks in the travel and airline industry have fallen in recent days as fears grow over the spread and severity of the variant. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) — United Airlines planes sit on the runway at Newark Liberty International Airport on November 30, 2021 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

OAN’s Sophia Flores
2:30 PM – Monday, January 8, 2024

United Airlines has announced that it has discovered loose bolts on plug doors on multiple of its Boeing 737 Max 9 planes during its inspection. The inspections come following a door panel blowing out of a plane mid-flight.

Following Friday’s catastrophe, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounded all 171 Boeing 737-9 Max aircrafts. All of the jetliners were inspected for loose bolts. United Airlines announced on Monday, that during its inspections, they found some concerning results.

“Since we began preliminary inspections on Saturday, we have found instances that appear to relate to installation issues in the door plug — for example, bolts that needed additional tightening,” United said in a statement. “These findings will be remedied by our Tech Ops team to safely return the aircraft to service.”

Last week, Alaska Airlines flight 1282 made an emergency landing after a large section of the plane blew out mid-air. No one was injured, however, a young boy had to be held down so he wasn’t sucked out of the plane.

According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the particular plane had three prior pressurization issues between December 7^th and January 4^th.

NEW: A piece of the wall on an Alaska Airlines flight popped off mid-flight as the plane was traveling from Portland to Ontario, California.

This is terrifying.

After about 35 minutes into the flight, the side panel of the plane came off, reportedly sucking out passengers’… pic.twitter.com/7lDTgAPF1h

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) January 6, 2024

The missing door plug was located near Portland, Oregon, in the backyard of a school teacher. It will be sent to a lab in Washington D.C. for further examination.

NTSB has recovered the door plug from Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 Boeing 737-9 MAX. NTSB investigators are currently examining the door plug and will send it to the NTSB Materials Laboratory in Washington, DC for further examination. pic.twitter.com/fqeemNeBPW

— NTSB Newsroom (@NTSB_Newsroom) January 8, 2024

The Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft first took to the air in 2016. It can seat up to 220 passengers and has a range of 3,300 miles. Only two airlines, Alaska Airlines and United Airlines, use the jet.

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