HOUSTON – More loose bolts were identified on Boeing 737 Max 9 planes. The findings came after all 737 Max 9 were grounded over the weekend after a sealed door blew off the side of an Alaska Airlines Max 9 flight on Saturday.
United Airlines confirmed to KPRC 2 Investigates through a corporate statement that, “we have found instances that appear to relate to installation issues in the door plug – for example, bolts that needed additional tightening. These findings will be remedied by our Tech Ops team to safely return the aircraft to service.”
Saturday’s incidents not only caused hundreds of cancellations for United and Alaska Airlines but also generated questions from travelers at Bush Intercontinental Airport.
“Oh my gosh! How come it fell? What happened?,” said Belinda Strannigan as she prepared for her flight to Seattle.
These are questions that many are asking, especially after a window seat disappeared along with the door.
“I will always choose the aisle over the window,” said Jason Horton after catching a flight out of Portland Monday morning.
The terrifying incident has federal investigators combing for answers while others are praising the pilots.
“What happened here, it’s a miracle that there was no loss of life,” said Aviation Attorney Andrew “Duke” Maloney.
Maloney knows the troubled history of Boeing’s Max line and he has been part of the team representing families of those killed in an Ethiopian Airlines crash for the New York City firm of Kreindler and Kreindler.
“We’ve been litigating against Boeing for probably twenty or thirty years on various aspects of Boeing design and manufacturing issues including the recent Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft,” said Maloney.
In previous Max disasters, a software glitch proved to be the cause. In 2021, the Department of Justice fined Boeing $2.5 billion after they charged the airline with “fraud conspiracy”.
When it comes to this latest incident, Maloney doesn’t put the spotlight on Alaska Airlines.
“It does not appear to be the airline’s fault. It appears to be a manufacturing issue, which is actually a little bit more frightening because Boeing is one of the largest, if not the largest distributor of airline aircraft around the world along with Airbus,” said Maloney.
Maloney also told KPRC 2 Investigates more extensive scrutiny of the airline maker in the wake of Saturday’s near disaster is warranted.
“I do think it probably warrants a much greater inspection of the airframe in terms of the bolts. There was a recent finding on another Boeing aircraft of a Max bolt that was not tightened on a rutter, so it may be that something is going on at Boeing where they have a quality control issue on the assembly line during the manufacturing process,” said Maloney.
The NTSB investigation is in the early stages and final reports are not expected for at least 12 to 18 months.
The bottom line for Maloney-- “The good news for the flying public is that commercial aviation is still statistically very, very safe... The problem is there is no margin for error.”