Ava is 9. I was so proud of her confident stride and big smile as she boarded the plane to Phoenix unescorted earlier this month. But my phone alerted me of an urgent text as soon as I got home. An Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 had been forced to make an emergency landing in Portland after a panel of the plane blew out. A chill ran down my spine as I scrambled to find out if it was Ava’s flight — it wasn’t.
But there were four unaccompanied minors on the Alaska flight when the door plug on the left side of the airplane dramatically malfunctioned at around 16,000 thousand feet. Thankfully no one was hurt. But the incident has understandably rattled travelers and prompted calls for more regulation and oversight. The Federal Aviation Administration temporarily grounded some Boeing 737 Max 9 airplanes in the immediate aftermath of the accident and quickly opened a formal investigation.
Thankfully no one was hurt. But the incident has understandably rattled travelers.
Following a series of internal inspections, Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci revealed the carrier found “some loose bolts on many” of the other Boeing 737 Max 9s in its fleet. Clearly, this is not just an isolated “quality escape,” as Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun obliquely noted in the days after the accident.
Notably, this is also not the first Boeing plane to have safety issues recently. Just last week, a Delta Boeing 757 lost one of its wheels as it was about to take off in Atlanta. But in my 45 years as a licensed aircraft mechanic, FAA safety inspector and accident investigator, I have never felt so disturbed about an accident. I literally wrote the book “Why Planes Crash” — I thought I’d seen it all. I was wrong. Here’s why this accident is the straw that broke the camel’s back for me.
No fatalities and no serious injuries resulted from the emergency on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282. This wasn’t a case of pilot error or severe weather. No, this accident was shocking to me…
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