Hundreds of Flights Canceled Following Alaska Airlines' Boeing Blowout

Hundreds of flights have been canceled and aircraft around the world have been grounded as officials investigate what led to this weekend's in-flight blowout of an Alaska Airlines plane over Oregon. 

In the United States, both Alaska Airlines and United Airlines have grounded their Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft following a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Emergency Airworthiness Directive requiring “immediate inspections of certain Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes before they can return to flight.” The FAA said its order affects about 171 airplanes around the globe.

The order was issued after a plug door panel on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 blew out on a flight from Portland, Oregon, to Ontario, California, on Friday evening. The flight, which was carrying 171 guests and 6 crew members, safely returned to Portland International Airport.

The aircraft had been delivered only weeks earlier on Oct. 31, Alaska said in a statement.

The grounding of Alaska’s 65 Boeing 737-9 aircraft resulted in 170 flight cancellations on Sunday “with more expected.” Alaska introduced a systemwide “flexible travel policy” for travelers who wanted to change or cancel their flights.
“We are awaiting further instruction from both the FAA and Boeing to begin the required inspections on the door plug of our 737-9 MAX fleet and will share information as we’re able,” Alaska wrote in a statement, adding “Cancellations will continue through the first half of the week, and we encourage guests with travel plans to continue to check their email and alaskaair.com for updates.”

United Airlines, which counts 79 of the affected aircraft in its fleet, confirmed toTravel + Leisure that it canceled 90 flights on Saturday and 180 on Sunday. The airline noted it managed to head off more cancellations by switching scheduled flights to other aircraft.

“We’re continuing to work with the FAA to clarify the inspection process and requirements for returning all MAX 9 aircraft to service,” United said in a statement shared with T+L. “We are working with customers to reaccommodate them on other flights and in some cases have been able to avoid cancellations by switching to other aircraft types."

Beyond the U.S., several international carriers were affected by the FAA’s directive. Panamanian carrier Copa Airlines grounded 21 of its aircraft “as per the mentioned directive, until they undergo the required technical inspection.” Similarly, Aeromexico and Turkish Airlines have each grounded their affected aircraft, Reuters reported. 

As of Monday morning, United had canceled the most flights at 260, followed by Alaska with 165, according to flight tracker FlightAware.

The continued cancellations come as the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) continues to investigate the incident. On Sunday, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said the affected aircraft had been restricted from flying to Hawaii after a warning light possibly indicating a pressurization problem had lit up on three different flights, The Associated Press reported. 

Investigators also located the lost door plug in the backyard of a school teacher near Portland on Sunday, but said the cockpit voice recorder audio was lost since it was recorded over before officials could pull it.

Source: Travel + Leisure