US transportation head grounds all Boeing 737 Max 9 planes indefinitely
Head of US transportation Pete Buttigeg has grounded all Boeing 737 Max 9 planes until he’s sure they are all ‘100% safe’.
As of now there is no timeline for their return to the skies, as Alaska Airlines continues to cancel hundreds of flights each day.
Buttigeg said he has spoken to the head of Boeing and told him the company needs to do everything it can to establish ‘100% confidence in its planes’.
The aircraft’s safety was called into question after a window blew off an Alaska Airlines flight shortly after it took off from Portland International Airport, causing the cabin to depressurise.
The airline said the plane landed safely with 174 passengers and six crew members.
The Boeing 737-9 Max involved in the incident received its certification two months ago, according to online FAA records.
The plane had been on 145 flights since entering commercial service on November 11, said FlightRadar24, another tracking service. The flight from Portland was the aircraft’s third of the day.
In the days following the incident, United Airlines has discovered loose bolts on the plug doors of several Boeing 737 Max 9 planes in their fleet.
In a statement, United Airlines said: ‘Since we began preliminary inspections on Saturday, we have found instances that appear to relate to installation issues in the door plug – for example, bolts that needed additional tightening.’
Aviation news site The Air Current reported that the issues affected at least five planes in the airline’s fleet.
The outlet said the locations of the loose bolts was not consistent between each of the planes.
This is a developing news story, more to follow soon… Check back shortly for further updates.
Got a story? Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. Or you can submit your videos and pictures here.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
Follow Metro.co.uk on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news updates. You can now also get Metro.co.uk articles sent straight to your device. Sign up for our daily push alerts here.