737 Max at it AGAIN

[Jun]

Alaska Airlines grounds 737 Max 9 planes after section blows out mid-air
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-67899564

1 I'm surprised that only Alaska Airlines are grounding them. For now.

2 I'm a bit lax about wearing seatbelts on planes. Perhaps I need to take more care about that.

3 Yes, I've already checked & my next 5 flight bookings are all on Airbus planes. One of the airlines has ordered the 737 Max, but won't receive them until 2026.

[Alex]

With all those horror stories over the years, you really want to make sure you never fly on a 737 Max.

[Gaybutton]

I'm surprised that only Alaska Airlines are grounding them. For now.

Not long after your post the FAA (America's Federal Aviation Administration) announced they are grounding many more 737 Max 9s for inspection. I think they will remain grounded until it can be determined what caused this to happen in the first place and fix whatever it is.

A boy whose seat was right there was very lucky. His shirt was torn off, but he wasn't sucked out. When it happened the plane was at 16,000 feet. If it was much higher he and even his seat could have been sucked right out. It is also lucky that was the only place on the plane where something happened. If other structures had also been torn loose, who knows what might have been the result?

One message I would send to the airlines - If you want me as a customer, then buy planes other than these 737 Max planes. I won't fly on planes that have proven themselves so unreliable. There has just been too many issues with them. If you just have to fly 737s, then fly the original design which proved themselves perfectly safe and reliable. But these Max planes - something is really wrong and when the FAA announces now the issue has been resolved and the planes are safe, is anyone going to trust that? I won't.

[Jun]

According to some sources, apparently it was an emergency exit door that dropped off. The door is available for use on high density passenger configurations, but isn't used on this variant. So it was supposedly fixed shut & boarded up with the usual trim panels.

As the external photos show a door shaped hole, that story looks plausible.

Only a fraction of the 737 Max planes have been grounded. I guess it's the ones with the bodged up door way.

I would have thought elite aerospace engineers ought to be capable of designing a door that stays shut.

However, perhaps we should not be surprised, after they messed up the MCAS system so badly. Particularly when the engineering of the VDC systems on every modern car provides a fine example of how they should do it -take signals from several sources and check for plausibility against a vehicle model. Hence, you just don't see failed VDC systems sending cars off the road backwards. If it were engineered like the 737, that's exactly what would happen.

A few years back, I heard that any planes or helicopters selected for use by the US president have to be of a model that's been in service for 5 years. That seems like a good policy & I figured if it's good enough for him, I will try to do the same.
After we subtract the previous grounding, I don't think it's quite done 5 years yet.

[Jun]

Well they have found the door in a back garden. That ought to help the investigation.

Someone also found an intact i-phone. This is believed to be from the flight, as there's a receipt for checked baggage on the lock screen.

[Jun]

Apparently someone said they found the door, but not some of the bolts. This is not surprising.

The spokesperson also said they don't know if those bolts were never fitted or came off. Any competent engineer should be able to tell by looking at the door and the plane, so my bet is they do know but have decided not to tell us yet.