There have been some recent incidents involving Boeing airplanes, especially the 737 Max 9 model. According to the news, the FAA has grounded all affected Boeing 737 Max 9s after an Alaska Airlines flight had a portion of its fuselage blow out over Oregon on Friday night.
This is the latest setback for Boeing, which has been trying to recover from the previous crashes and scandals that plagued its 737 Max programs. Boeing’s CEO had announced a comeback plan for 2024 after some scandals in the previous years, but it seems to have taken a blow just 5 days into the new year.
There are over 1,160 Boeing 737 MAXs active in the world, with the majority being the -8 variant, followed by the -8-200 and the -91. The 737 MAX 9 is the largest version of the Boeing 737 MAX series that is currently in commercial service, with a length of 42.16 meters and a typical seating capacity of 193 to 220 passengers. The 737 MAX 9 has received almost 300 orders from various airlines, such as United, Alaska, Aeroméxico, and Turkish Airlines.
The most recent incident happened this Friday and it happened to be with the Alaska airlines that uses the “737 MAX 9. The fuselage blowout was caused by a manufacturing issue affecting the electrical power systems on the Boeing 737 Max 9. Boeing said the problem was due to poor electrical bonding, where panel assemblies that were supposed to conduct electricity and form part of a connection with the frame of the aircraft were not doing so effectively. This resulted in some components on the plane, including the pilots’ main instrument panel and a standby power control unit, being improperly grounded, or earthed.
