Problem with Boeing jets increases after near miss The feeling remains: commercial American moon landing has failed

After the near miss of a Boeing 737-9 Max in the US, there are increasing indications of a more serious problem. After part of the fuselage of an Alaska Airlines plane broke off in flight on Friday, the airline, like the larger United Airlines, discovered loose fasteners in the affected areas on other planes.

The American accident investigation authority NTSB has not ruled out expanding the checks to other variants of the aircraft. Even about five years after the deadly crashes of two 737 Max planes, Boeing has still not emerged from the crisis.

“First and foremost, we need to find out what happened to this plane,” NTSB Chairman Jennifer Homendy said late Monday evening in the US. “If we have a major system-wide or fleet-wide problem, we will make an urgent safety recommendation to effect change.” So far, the US Aviation Authority (FAA) has ordered as many as 170 examples of the 737-9 Max to be grounded and required operators to conduct inspections.

Passengers escaped in horror

The broken fuselage section replaces an aircraft door that is not needed. According to investigators, this insert moved up the cabin wall before releasing with a loud bang. The lost torso section was found in a teacher’s yard in the city of Portland, Oregon and is now under investigation.

In Friday’s incident, the 177 people aboard the Boeing plane largely escaped the shock. According to experts, this was also due to fortunate circumstances: no one was sitting directly next to the broken part and all passengers were still wearing their seat belts.

The American airline United owns 79 aircraft of the affected type, Alaska 65. Airlines such as Iceland Air from Iceland and Lion Air from Indonesia also have the 737-9 Max in their fleet. However, their machines have an additional emergency exit installed on each side. This allows the jets to carry more passengers. This variant is not yet subject to the take-off ban and the FAA requirements.

The EU aviation regulator EASA had already stated that airlines in the countries it supervises do not have aircraft of the relevant type. According to the civil aviation authority there, there are no Boeing 737-9 Max registered in Great Britain. (sda/awp/dpa)