On January 5, 2024, a Boeing 737 MAX 9 passenger plane of Alaska Airlines was on its way from Portland, Oregon to Ontario, California, when the side of the cabin was damaged, resulting in an instant depressurization of the cabin and the fall of all oxygen masks. Fortunately, the plane returned in time and did not have a crew. There were 174 passengers and six crew members on board.
The accident sparked shock and concern in the global aviation industry because the plane was a Boeing 737 MAX series airliner, an aircraft that had been involved in two fatal air crashes and caused many countries and regions around the world to be grounded for nearly two years before receiving permission from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to resume flights in November last year. The plane involved in the accident is a new aircraft delivered on October 31, 2023, and it is less than three months old.
Due to safety concerns, the Federal Aviation Administration of the United States ordered the temporary grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX 9 passenger aircraft operated by American Airlines or operated in the United States on the 6th, and required a safety inspection of the passenger aircraft to rule out possible design or manufacturing defects. The Federal Aviation Administration's Emergency Airworthiness Directive covers approximately 171 aircraft, which operators are required to inspect before resuming flights.
After the Federal Aviation Administration issued a grounding order for some Boeing 737 MAX 9 passenger aircraft on the 6th, a number of regulators and airlines around the world announced the temporary grounding of this aircraft type and conducting safety inspections. The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) announced that it has adopted the Federal Aviation Administration's Emergency Airworthiness Directive for the Boeing 737 MAX 9, emphasizing that no airline in an EU member state is currently using the same type of aircraft as the accident aircraft. The UK's aviation safety regulator says any Boeing 737 MAX 9 operator must comply with Federal Aviation Administration directives to enter its airspace.
Copa Airlines said on the 6th that in accordance with the requirements of the Federal Aviation Administration, it will temporarily suspend its 21 Boeing 737 MAX 9 passenger aircraft, and begin technical inspections of this type of passenger aircraft, which is expected to resume operation within 24 hours. However, on the evening of the 7th, Copa Airlines issued an announcement again saying that it will continue to ground this type of passenger aircraft, and the resumption time will be notified separately, and the relevant departments are formulating inspection rules to strive to resume operations as soon as possible. Aeromexico announced on the 6th that in accordance with the requirements of the Federal Aviation Administration, Mexico Airlines will ground all Boeing 737 MAX 9 passenger aircraft until the due investigation process is completed. In addition, a Turkish Airlines spokesperson said on social media that Turkish Airlines grounded five of its Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft for inspection.
The Boeing 737 MAX family is Boeing's flagship product, a high-efficiency, low-cost, short- and medium-range narrow-body aircraft designed for the booming aviation market. Boeing has delivered 218 737 MAX 9 aircraft worldwide, most of which are in service with Alaska Airlines and United Airlines. However, there have also been two serious air crashes in this series, namely on October 29, 2018, when a Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX 8 crashed into the sea after taking off from Jakarta, killing all 189 people on board, and on March 10, 2019, an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 crashed after taking off from Addis Ababa, killing all 157 people on board. The two crashes are believed to have been caused by a defect in the aircraft's automatic flight control system, which caused the aircraft to descend sharply shortly after takeoff. The accidents sparked harsh criticism and investigations into Boeing, which has been accused of neglecting safety issues, withholding key information, and misleading regulators and customers, resulting in serious design and manufacturing flaws in the aircraft.
The Alaska Airlines accident in the United States has once again dealt a blow to the credibility and confidence of the Boeing 737 MAX family of passenger aircraft, and has once again exposed Boeing's problems and deficiencies in aircraft design and manufacturing. This is a crushing blow to Boeing, which has already been severely affected by the pandemic, leading to a downturn in the aviation industry, a sharp drop in aircraft orders and deepening financial difficulties. Boeing also faces a variety of investigations, lawsuits, fines and restitutions to rebuild its reputation and trust in the competitive aviation market. This is a challenge not only for Boeing, but also for the global aviation industry, but also for global aviation safety.