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thewayneI've been waiting for some more information before writing about this, as it's quite the story!
If you have a fear of flying, maybe you don't want to read this. I am going to cut to the good news: no serious injuries and no one died. I'll put the rest under a cut for your consideration.
To begin with, the plane had departed Portland, OR bound for California, a two-hour flight. It was at an altitude of 16,000 feet and about six minutes into its flight when a "door plug" blew out of the side of the fuselage. A door plug apparently is a dummy panel that is inserted where an emergency door could be if the airline so ordered one.
The plane instantly depressurized, oxygen masks dropped just like we see in the movies. Fortunately the plane was still climbing as everyone was in their seats, and the two seats next to the blow-out were unoccupied. From all accounts, it was pretty terrifying. The cabin crew lost their emergency card: it was sucked out. At least two cell phones went sky-diving, as did a large stuffed teddy bear and a child's shirt: swept right off of the kid. Four children were being held by their parent and none were injured.
Obviously the pilot immediately declared a depressurization emergency.
The flight crew had trouble communicating with the cabin crew, the reason is unclear. They were able to communicate with the Portland airport. Half an hour later the plane was turned around and returned to the airport and landed safely: I expect the reason for the delay was to clear congested airspace to execute the turn, possibly also to get over less populated ground in case something terrible happened while they turned.
Another oddity was the flight deck door - the supposedly terrorist-proof door post-9/11 - was yanked open and jammed the front bathroom closed. I'm curious what happened there! The co-pilot lost his communications head set, and since the cabin crew lost their emergency card, (s)he(?) was sent back with the emergency manual.
So. The plane landed, but sat on the ground for a half an hour before passengers were deplaned. I'm not certain if they brought out air stairs or they went to a gate and the passengers went through a jet way, I think the latter. Three gates were cleared to process the passengers: they were rebooked if they wanted, and each was given a cheque for $1,500.
Medical personnel were on-hand for the passengers, many of whom reported cold fingers. One man was treated for pain in his legs, I don't think anyone was hospitalized.
This all happened Friday January 5, early evening.
The FAA has grounded the entire Boeing 737-MAX9 fleet in the USA for inspections, and that ban has gone world-wide. Currently there are only two American carriers, Alaska and United, and it is seriously affecting their schedules as 737s are major workhorses for short-haul flights. The good news is the inspection only takes 4-8 hours, but that's a lot of planes to inspect.
Here's the really weird part. The plane was BRAND NEW. The MAX9 had been TYPE CERTIFIED TWO MONTHS AGO. This is very ominous for Boeing who hasn't had an exactly stellar reputation of late. They recently asked for an ability to bypass safety inspections, saying that their word was good enough. Well, clearly it isn't.
On top of this, this particular aircraft has a history! In December, it had an alert light that the cabin pressurization had a problem. It was checked out and reset. THEN IT HAPPENED TWICE AGAIN, ON THE TWO DAYS PRECEDING THE BLOWOUT! Now, fortunately it had been restricted to overland flights, banned from flying to/from Hawaii so that it would always be pretty close to an airport.
The fuselage panel has been found and parts of it have been sent to laboratories for microscopic analysis.
The two cell phones were found! One, an late/current-model iPhone, was found under a bush in perfect condition. Still fully charged, apparently unlocked, and with a text message that the owner's baggage was available for pickup!
Obviously there are a lot of unanswered questions. And aircraft investigations take a lot of time, so the answers will be slow coming. If you play the stock market, now might be a good time to short Boeing, but both Alaska and United will be taking hits. Airbus will probably be receiving a bump.
It should be noted that it has been 15 years since an American airline has suffered a fatal accident. We have a pretty good safety record.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/canceled-flights-emergency-landing-alaska-airlines_n_659b7d7be4b0bfe5ff63c33b
Information about the exit door plug, and some other bits of tid:
https://apnews.com/article/boeing-emergency-exit-plugs-alaska-airlines-e3460f26c1bc2d955fcae9d6d820414d
A lot of this info came from multiple sources that I don't have URLs for, I get a lot from Apple's News app which the URLs take you back to the news app, which sucks if you don't use their devices.
If you have a fear of flying, maybe you don't want to read this. I am going to cut to the good news: no serious injuries and no one died. I'll put the rest under a cut for your consideration.
To begin with, the plane had departed Portland, OR bound for California, a two-hour flight. It was at an altitude of 16,000 feet and about six minutes into its flight when a "door plug" blew out of the side of the fuselage. A door plug apparently is a dummy panel that is inserted where an emergency door could be if the airline so ordered one.
The plane instantly depressurized, oxygen masks dropped just like we see in the movies. Fortunately the plane was still climbing as everyone was in their seats, and the two seats next to the blow-out were unoccupied. From all accounts, it was pretty terrifying. The cabin crew lost their emergency card: it was sucked out. At least two cell phones went sky-diving, as did a large stuffed teddy bear and a child's shirt: swept right off of the kid. Four children were being held by their parent and none were injured.
Obviously the pilot immediately declared a depressurization emergency.
The flight crew had trouble communicating with the cabin crew, the reason is unclear. They were able to communicate with the Portland airport. Half an hour later the plane was turned around and returned to the airport and landed safely: I expect the reason for the delay was to clear congested airspace to execute the turn, possibly also to get over less populated ground in case something terrible happened while they turned.
Another oddity was the flight deck door - the supposedly terrorist-proof door post-9/11 - was yanked open and jammed the front bathroom closed. I'm curious what happened there! The co-pilot lost his communications head set, and since the cabin crew lost their emergency card, (s)he(?) was sent back with the emergency manual.
So. The plane landed, but sat on the ground for a half an hour before passengers were deplaned. I'm not certain if they brought out air stairs or they went to a gate and the passengers went through a jet way, I think the latter. Three gates were cleared to process the passengers: they were rebooked if they wanted, and each was given a cheque for $1,500.
Medical personnel were on-hand for the passengers, many of whom reported cold fingers. One man was treated for pain in his legs, I don't think anyone was hospitalized.
This all happened Friday January 5, early evening.
The FAA has grounded the entire Boeing 737-MAX9 fleet in the USA for inspections, and that ban has gone world-wide. Currently there are only two American carriers, Alaska and United, and it is seriously affecting their schedules as 737s are major workhorses for short-haul flights. The good news is the inspection only takes 4-8 hours, but that's a lot of planes to inspect.
Here's the really weird part. The plane was BRAND NEW. The MAX9 had been TYPE CERTIFIED TWO MONTHS AGO. This is very ominous for Boeing who hasn't had an exactly stellar reputation of late. They recently asked for an ability to bypass safety inspections, saying that their word was good enough. Well, clearly it isn't.
On top of this, this particular aircraft has a history! In December, it had an alert light that the cabin pressurization had a problem. It was checked out and reset. THEN IT HAPPENED TWICE AGAIN, ON THE TWO DAYS PRECEDING THE BLOWOUT! Now, fortunately it had been restricted to overland flights, banned from flying to/from Hawaii so that it would always be pretty close to an airport.
The fuselage panel has been found and parts of it have been sent to laboratories for microscopic analysis.
The two cell phones were found! One, an late/current-model iPhone, was found under a bush in perfect condition. Still fully charged, apparently unlocked, and with a text message that the owner's baggage was available for pickup!
Obviously there are a lot of unanswered questions. And aircraft investigations take a lot of time, so the answers will be slow coming. If you play the stock market, now might be a good time to short Boeing, but both Alaska and United will be taking hits. Airbus will probably be receiving a bump.
It should be noted that it has been 15 years since an American airline has suffered a fatal accident. We have a pretty good safety record.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/canceled-flights-emergency-landing-alaska-airlines_n_659b7d7be4b0bfe5ff63c33b
Information about the exit door plug, and some other bits of tid:
https://apnews.com/article/boeing-emergency-exit-plugs-alaska-airlines-e3460f26c1bc2d955fcae9d6d820414d
A lot of this info came from multiple sources that I don't have URLs for, I get a lot from Apple's News app which the URLs take you back to the news app, which sucks if you don't use their devices.
no subject
Date: 2024-01-08 09:21 pm (UTC)And with all these near plane crashes lately too with the shortage of Air Traffic Controllers, I just don't know.
no subject
Date: 2024-01-08 09:28 pm (UTC)A lot of unanswered questions with this one! Those alert lights are a biggie. I wonder if maintenance/operation log books are being poured over to see if other MAX9's are getting those particular alerts, too.
no subject
Date: 2024-01-08 10:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-01-09 12:18 am (UTC)I have to wonder if it was just because of noise. Do they have headsets? I imagine the racket from the wind whipping past that hole (plus the engine noise) would have been horrific.
I can't tell if this is the most or least appropriate use of this Chii icon, ever.
no subject
Date: 2024-01-09 12:51 am (UTC)The FAA tests the intrusion resistance of flight deck doors by slamming a 45 kg (~100 lb) weight into it repeatedly.
https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Advisory_Circular/AC_25.795-1A.pdf
Alaskan Airlines doors were designed to withstand someone kicking them with 1500 lbs of force.
https://investor.alaskaair.com/news-releases/news-release-details/alaska-airlines-becomes-first-major-carrier-install-impenetrable
The aircraft internal pressure would be around 75 kPa, external air pressure would be around 55 kPa, so about 20 kPa in pressure difference. The flight deck door has an area of slightly more than a square metre. So, the pressure differential would be a force of about 20,000 N, or similar to slamming two tons into it.
no subject
Date: 2024-01-09 12:57 am (UTC)It will be interesting to see if any answers are actually found. :o
Hugs, Jon
no subject
Date: 2024-01-09 02:50 am (UTC)With the cockpit door blown open, it would be noisy in the cockpit. I believe the flight crew headsets are noise-cancelling, but the cabin crew use telephones from what I've seen. I don't know if they have headset radios for emergencies. Yeah, a handset would probably be worthless with a depressurized plane.
no subject
Date: 2024-01-09 02:51 am (UTC)It's so nice to be social media friends with someone who knows about this information! Thanks much!
no subject
Date: 2024-01-09 02:52 am (UTC)The FAA is VERY good at getting answers, they have access to an awful lot of top-notch flight and materials engineers.
no subject
Date: 2024-01-09 04:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-01-09 05:49 pm (UTC)I haven't followed that particular story, but I heard something about a problem with a rear bulkhead. Apparently that's a MAJOR inspection and remediation!
no subject
Date: 2024-01-09 08:35 pm (UTC)I am very much *not* impressed with Boeing's record over the last few years. I used to see them as a safety-conscious reliable supplier. Now I fear they have generic MBA executives, trained in the same "move fast and break things" school as everyone else, and subject to the same "raise the stock price in the short term" incentives.
no subject
Date: 2024-01-09 08:50 pm (UTC)It sadly seems that Boeing is being run by MBAs and PR flacks, and that the C-Suite is all the more out of touch since they moved the HQ from Seattle and their manufacturing base to the DC area.
no subject
Date: 2024-01-10 12:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-01-10 01:15 am (UTC)But you still know things that others don't, or how to access it more easily.
no subject
Date: 2024-01-12 06:31 am (UTC)I strongly suspect that the door was designed to withstand force being applied from the cabin toward the cockpit, and not the other way around.
no subject
Date: 2024-01-12 06:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-01-12 10:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-01-12 07:10 pm (UTC)I found out some more about this yesterday and will be posting on it.