According to The New York Times, on the evening of January 5th local time, shortly after takeoff, an Alaska Airlines 737MAX9 aircraft suddenly detached its left center rear emergency hatch from the fuselage, causing the cabin to instantly release pressure and all oxygen masks to fall off. Subsequently, the plane made an emergency landing at Portland International Airport in Oregon.
According to the passenger involved, it took about 15 minutes for the plane to return to its original airport. At that time, yellow oxygen masks were hanging above their heads, and strong winds blew in, clearly visible in the night sky and the city lights below.
In response to this incident, Alaska Airlines issued a statement stating that the flight was flying from Portland to the southern California city of Ontario. The plane had an accident shortly after takeoff and had safely landed at Portland International Airport. There were a total of 171 passengers and 6 crew members on board.
Alaska Airlines claims to always prioritize the safety of passengers and employees, and such accidents are rare. The crew members have received training and are prepared to handle the accident safely, and are currently investigating the truth of the incident.
Boeing also issued a statement stating that it has learned of the incident on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 and is collecting more information and communicating with this customer. A Boeing technical team is ready to support the investigation activities.
Afterwards, Alaska Airlines issued another statement regarding the accident. Decided to take preventive measures and temporarily suspend the fleet of 65 Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft. Alaska Airlines stated that each aircraft can only resume flight after completing comprehensive maintenance and safety checks, and it is expected that all inspections will be completed in the coming days.
The FlightAware website shows that the involved flight is Alaska Airlines Flight AS1282, originally scheduled to fly to Ontario International Airport at 5:07 pm, return to Portland six minutes after takeoff, and land in Portland at 5:27 pm.
The interface news shows that the 737MAX9 aircraft operating this flight is only 0.3 years old and has registration number N704AL. The New York Times reported that the aircraft was certified in November 2023 and put into commercial service that month. Since then, it has operated 145 flights.
The Boeing 737MAX series aircraft are the latest generation of single aisle narrow body passenger planes, including the Boeing 737 MAX7, Boeing 737 MAX8, 737 MAX9, 737 MAX10, and Boeing 737 MAX200. The first aircraft made its debut on December 8, 2015 and completed its maiden flight on January 29, 2016.
As Boeing's best-selling star model, the 737MAX was overshadowed for a long time. In October 2018 and March 2019, within less than a year, the Boeing 737MAX experienced two consecutive air accidents. Subsequently, various civil aviation regulatory agencies around the world announced the suspension of the aircraft model, which greatly affected Boeing's performance.
However, the Boeing 737MAX aircraft involved in the previous air crash was the 737MAX8, while Alaska Airlines had the 737MAX9 aircraft involved in this accident, which is not the same aircraft.
According to Interface News, currently all 737MAX aircraft operated by domestic airlines in China are 737MAX8, without 737MAX9.
According to data provided by the flight manager to Interface News, domestic airlines currently have a fleet of 95 Boeing 737MAX8 aircraft. As of mid November 2023, all 95 737MAX8 aircraft have resumed operations. In December 2023, the daily utilization rate of the 737MAX8 fleet reached 7.6 hours per day.
However, in the first half of 2023, the start-up airline Greater Bay Area Airlines, with its main base in Hong Kong, announced an order for 15 737 MAX 9 aircraft, which also includes an intention to purchase 5 787 Dreamliner aircraft, which have not yet begun delivery.
According to the "Orders and Deliveries" section of Boeing's official website, Boeing delivered a total of 343 Boeing 737MAX series aircraft from early 2023 to the end of November 2023. Among them, 23 Boeing 737MAX aircraft were delivered to Alaska Airlines, but the specific number of 737MAX9 aircraft was not specified.
It is worth noting that in December 2023, an airline also discovered potential issues with key components of the 737 MAX aircraft. Boeing suggests that airlines inspect all 737 MAX rudder systems for potential bolt loosening hazards.
Boeing stated that repairs have been carried out on the aircraft found to have issues, but the company hopes to ensure that all 1370 737 MAX aircraft worldwide are inspected to determine if similar issues exist.