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Post by billhammond on Jan 6, 2024 13:34:09 GMT -5
Excerpt from Associated Press The emergency landing of a Boeing 737 Max jetliner with a gaping hole in its side and the airline's decision to ground identical planes is renewing questions about the safety of Boeing's best-selling plane — one that was involved in two deadly crashes. A window panel blew out on an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-9 Max seven minutes after takeoff from Portland, Oregon, on Friday. The rapid loss of cabin pressure pulled the clothes off a child and caused oxygen masks to drop from the ceiling, but miraculously none of the 174 passengers and six members were injured. Pilots made a safe emergency landing. Hours after the terrifying incident, Alaska Airlines announced that it would ground its entire fleet of 65 Max 9s for inspections and maintenance. CEO Ben Minicucci said Alaska expects the inspections to be completed ''in the next few days.'' Even a short grounding will pose significant problems for the airline and its passengers — the Max 9 accounts for more than one-fourth of Alaska's fleet. On Saturday, Alaska canceled about 100 flights, or 13% of its schedule, by midmorning on the West Coast, according to FlightAware. United Airlines also operates a large fleet of 737-9 Max jets. A United spokesman said Saturday the airline had nothing yet to announce about its Max fleet. Photos showed a hole in the Alaska jet where an emergency exit is installed when planes are configured to carry a maximum number of passengers. Alaska plugs those doors because its 737-9 Max jets don't have enough seats to trigger the requirement for another emergency exit. India's aviation watchdog told its airlines to immediately inspect emergency exits of all Boeing 737-8 Max planes, a slightly smaller model than the 737-9 Max. The country's aviation authority complained about a lack of guidance from Boeing. The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board said they would investigate Friday's incident. Boeing has offered only a brief statement. ''We are aware of the incident involving Alaska Airlines Flight 1282," the company said Friday night. "We are working to gather more information and are in contact with our airline customer. A Boeing technical team stands ready to support the investigation.'' The plane involved is brand-new — it began carrying passengers in November and has made only 145 flights, according to Flightradar24, a flight-tracking service.
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Post by billhammond on Jan 6, 2024 13:41:55 GMT -5
More info from our favorite pilot, Juan Browne:
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Post by Cosmic Wonder on Jan 6, 2024 14:18:00 GMT -5
Sounds like Boeing f#$&* up.
Mike
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Post by dradtke on Jan 6, 2024 14:39:24 GMT -5
Well, shit. We're flying down to Tucson in a few weeks, so I looked up our flight. Delta on a Boeing 737-9. Return flight is an Airbus with American, so if we get down there we should be able to get back.
We'll make sure to keep our seatbelts fastened for the flight down.
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Post by billhammond on Jan 6, 2024 14:48:16 GMT -5
Well, shit. We're flying down to Tucson in a few weeks, so I looked up our flight. Delta on a Boeing 737-9. Return flight is an Airbus with American, so if we get down there we should be able to get back. FAA is ordering inspections of about 175 MAX-9s, and it sounds like after they've been inspected they can be returned to service if no problems are found. So, you might be OK.
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Post by theevan on Jan 6, 2024 14:51:34 GMT -5
Well, shit. We're flying down to Tucson in a few weeks, so I looked up our flight. Delta on a Boeing 737-9. Return flight is an Airbus with American, so if we get down there we should be able to get back. We'll make sure to keep our seatbelts fastened for the flight down. Yeesh. I heard something to the effect that stretching the airframe and capacity necessitated new larger engines. The 737 airframe is too low for the engines so they moved em forward...which makes the plane nose up. To compensate the Max has that computer control business. Something like that
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Post by Marshall on Jan 6, 2024 15:07:39 GMT -5
Sounds like Boeing f#$&* up. Mike Maybe maybe not. The article said that Alaska Air plugs the holes for the door on smaller capacity B-737s. Not Boeing. Or so we would be lead to believe by the article.
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Post by billhammond on Jan 6, 2024 15:22:16 GMT -5
So, there were three seats in that row. The kid who lost his shirt was in the center one, his mom had the aisle seat and the outboard one was empty, which probably saved that kid's life.
One other thought -- can you imagine if that door had hit one of the tail surfaces? And how would you like that door to land on your house, car, etc.?
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Post by epaul on Jan 6, 2024 15:41:37 GMT -5
Were there any reports of a gremlin sighting?
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Post by billhammond on Jan 6, 2024 15:44:40 GMT -5
Were there any reports of a gremlin sighting?
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Post by Cosmic Wonder on Jan 6, 2024 16:30:10 GMT -5
Sounds like Boeing f#$&* up. Mike Maybe maybe not. The article said that Alaska Air plugs the holes for the door on smaller capacity B-737s. Not Boeing. Or so we would be lead to believe by the article. I don’t think that’s correct Marshall. I’d expect that Alaska specs the planes they want to recieve and Boeing builds them I can’t conceive of Boeing delivering airframes with holes in the fusalage. Mike
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Post by billhammond on Jan 6, 2024 16:36:47 GMT -5
I don’t think that’s correct Marshall. I’d expect that Alaska specs the planes they want to recieve and Boeing builds them I can’t conceive of Boeing delivering airframes with holes in the fusalage. Mike Hmmm, I'm not so sure. I think it's likelier that Boeing builds them with all the emergency exits in place, so that the airline has flexibility on whether to go high-capacity and have the exit accessible, or go lower-capacity as Alaska does, bolt the door shut and cover up the opening mechanism with an interior panel.
On edit, I just watched a CNN video with a couple aviation experts that supports Mike's expectation that Alaska would have spec'd that exit as not being needed for emergencies, so Boeing would have "plugged" it during construction and covered the interior side with a panel. Mr. Hammond apologizes to Mr. C.W.
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Post by dradtke on Jan 6, 2024 17:03:34 GMT -5
Because we're flying cheap, we don't get seat assignments until check-in. I assume that means I'll be in a middle seat.
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Post by billhammond on Jan 6, 2024 19:05:20 GMT -5
ATC audio -- I'm assuming the female cockpit voice is the co-pilot, who would typically handle radio comms while the pilot flies the damn plane. Note that they had 18,900 pounds of fuel aboard.
But with the fuselage hole being behind the wing, you sure don't wanna dump any fuel -- can you imagine the cabin peril that could cause?
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Post by Cosmic Wonder on Jan 6, 2024 19:13:20 GMT -5
Wow, that sounded intense.
Mike
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Post by Village Idiot on Jan 6, 2024 22:35:31 GMT -5
Because we're flying cheap, we don't get seat assignments until check-in. I assume that means I'll be in a middle seat. If you are flying cheap I assume you will both be equipped with leather aviator hats and goggles.
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Post by howard lee on Jan 6, 2024 22:42:44 GMT -5
"CEO Ben Minicucci ..."
Not to make light of the original post, but you have to be one bold badass to go through life with a surname like this and not change it legally.
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Post by Cosmic Wonder on Jan 7, 2024 0:11:21 GMT -5
I don’t think that’s correct Marshall. I’d expect that Alaska specs the planes they want to recieve and Boeing builds them I can’t conceive of Boeing delivering airframes with holes in the fusalage. Mike Hmmm, I'm not so sure. I think it's likelier that Boeing builds them with all the emergency exits in place, so that the airline has flexibility on whether to go high-capacity and have the exit accessible, or go lower-capacity as Alaska does, bolt the door shut and cover up the opening mechanism with an interior panel.
On edit, I just watched a CNN video with a couple aviation experts that supports Mike's expectation that Alaska would have spec'd that exit as not being needed for emergencies, so Boeing would have "plugged" it during construction and covered the interior side with a panel. Mr. Hammond apologizes to Mr. C.W. No apologies necessary, Bill. Pure speculation on my part, as likely to be wrong as right. Now if I could just get the six power ball numbers… Mike
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Post by Marshall on Jan 7, 2024 9:11:32 GMT -5
I guess I was relying on Fake News then.
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Post by dradtke on Jan 7, 2024 9:56:58 GMT -5
Because we're flying cheap, we don't get seat assignments until check-in. I assume that means I'll be in a middle seat. If you are flying cheap I assume you will both be equipped with leather aviator hats and goggles. Those cost extra.
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