The United States Aviation Authority (FAA) is grounding all Boeing-737 MAX 9 aircraft. The aviation regulator first wants an extensive inspection after a recent incident with the aircraft.
A piece of a plane’s fuselage suddenly disappeared at Portland Airport in the northwest US on Friday, 35 minutes after it took off. The Alaska Airlines plane therefore had to make an emergency landing.
The FAA then decided to make a rigorous decision. The check takes between four and eight hours. Initially, the inspection concerns aircraft of American airlines or aircraft on American territory.
But the FAA wants anyone who is going to fly such an aircraft to first conduct an investigation. This concerns more than 170 devices worldwide.
Aviation giant Boeing has produced one of the most successful aircraft for short distances since 1967 under the name Boeing-737. Certainly, more than 10,000 of these have been sold in all types, including to well-known Dutch or former airlines such as Air Holland, KLM, Martinair and Transavia. As far as we know, KLM does not have any aircraft of the type that now needs to be inspected.
More than 300 people died in 737 MAX 8 crashes in 2018
The predecessor of the 737 MAX 9, the 737 MAX 8, made the news in 2018 because it had to be grounded for two years after several serious accidents. A total of 346 people were killed in two crashes into the sea. Both Boeing and the FAA received widespread criticism after investigations into the MAX 8 revealed reprehensible actions. The MAX 9 has a different design than its predecessor.
