The U.S The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is looking into the Boeing jetliner incident that caused damage to an Alaska Airlines plane in January.
According to the newspaper and people who know about the situation, investigators have talked to some of the passengers and workers on the Jan flight, including pilots and flight attendants.
The Alaska Airlines plane had a tire blowout and had to land soon after taking off from Portland, Oregon. Boeing has been watched more closely since the incident, when a panel that covered a space for an extra emergency door came off a Max 9 jet. No one got badly hurt.
Alaska Airlines said that it’s normal for the DOJ to be doing an investigation in a situation like this. “We are working together and don’t think we are being investigated. ”
Boeing said no comment. The DOJ did not answer a question right away.
The newspaper said that a study would help the Department check if Boeing followed the rules in a previous agreement that resolved a government inquiry into the safety of its 737 Max planes after two serious accidents in 2018 and 2019.
In 2021, Boeing agreed to pay $2. 5 billion, including a $244 million fine, to resolve an investigation into the crashes of flights operated by Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines. The company said two workers lied to regulators about problems with the plane’s flight-control system.
Boeing wrote to Congress and admitted that it cannot locate the records for the work done on the door panel of the Alaska Airlines plane.
Ziad Ojakli, who is an executive at Boeing, wrote to a senator that they searched a lot but couldn’t find any paperwork. Maria Cantwell will be available on Friday.
The company thinks that the records about the panel being taken off and put back on the plane were never made, even though they were supposed to be.
The Seattle Times reported that there was a letter following a Senate committee hearing where Boeing and the National Transportation Safety Board argued about whether Boeing had worked with investigators.
Jennifer Homendy, the head of the safety board, said that Boeing didn’t want to tell us who fixes the doors on their planes and didn’t give us the paperwork for a repair job where the door panel was taken off and put back on.
“It’s ridiculous that we still don’t have that after two months,” Homendy said. “Without that information, it raises worries about how Boeing ensures good quality, manages safety, and runs its systems. ”
Cantwell, a Democrat from Washington, asked Boeing to reply within 48 hours.
Right after the Senate meeting, Boeing said it had told the NTSB the names of all 737 door employees and had already given some names to investigators before.
Boeing said in the letter that they had told the safety board before that they couldn’t find the paperwork. Before the hearing, it was stated that Boeing didn’t know about any complaints or worries about not working together.
Last month, the NTSB said in a report that four bolts were missing from the door after it was taken off for repairs. The people who fixed the rivets for Boeing’s supplier Spirit AeroSystems were contractors. However, the NTSB doesn’t know who took off and put back the door panel.
The government told Boeing to fix its problems within 90 days. The committee discovered that Boeing still has safety issues even though they tried to fix them after two of their jets crashed in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people.
Tag: Alaska Airlines
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DOJ launches criminal inquiry into rupture of Alaska Airlines 737 aircraft – Report
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171 Boeings grounded by US regulators due Alaska Airlines jet incident
The US government has told some Boeing 737 Max 9 planes to stop flying because a part fell off one during a flight.
The FAA has said it will inspect 171 planes.
On Friday, an Alaska Airlines plane had to land suddenly after taking off from Oregon.
United Airlines checked some of its 79 Boeing 737 Max 9 planes as required by the FAA.
The airline said that taking some airplanes out of service was going to make about 60 flights canceled on Saturday.
Before, the FAA said it would “force certain Boeing 737 Max 9 planes used by US airlines or in US territory to stop flying for a while”.
They said that each aircraft needs to be inspected for about four to eight hours.
Turkish Airlines has called back five planes to make sure they are safe.
On Friday, the Alaska Airlines flight from Portland, Oregon to Ontario, California, was at 16,000 feet (4,876 meters) when it started to quickly descend because of an emergency.
The plane landed safely in Portland with 177 passengers and crew on board.
The person in charge of the National Transportation Safety Board said on Saturday that no one was sitting next to the part of the transport being looked at.
“We are very lucky that this didn’t turn into something more sad,” Jennifer Homendy said.
She said the door that came off the plane might be in Cedar Hills, Portland. She asked anyone who finds it to call the police.
At the same time, the Civil Aviation Authority in the UK said there were no 737 Max 9 planes registered there.
“We have sent letters to airlines from other countries asking if they have done safety checks before flying in UK airspace,” a message said on X, which used to be called Twitter.
Pictures sent to news sources of the damaged area showed the night sky visible through a hole in the airplane, with insulation material and other stuff also visible.
The reason for the building problem is not known yet, and no one got hurt.
Evan Smith, who was on the plane, heard a loud bang and air masks came down from the ceiling.
“They said a kid’s shirt was pulled off and blown out of the plane, but his mother held onto him so he wouldn’t go with it. ”In a recording, the pilot asks air traffic control to change course.
“We need help right away,” she said. “We need to go back because we are losing pressure. ”
Based on pictures, the damaged area was at the back of the plane, behind the wing and engines.
The part of the airplane body that was damaged could be used as an extra emergency exit by some airlines, but not by Alaska.
Terry Tozer, who used to be a pilot, said that the part should have been fastened in place if it wasn’t being used as an emergency exit.
He said to BBC News that the passengers wouldn’t have known it wasn’t a real window from inside the plane.
If this part had been lost, it may not have changed how the plane flew, but it would have been very dangerous for anyone sitting close by.
Alaska Airlines’ CEO Ben Minicucci said that 65 planes will be kept on the ground for now. They will only fly again after they have been checked and fixed to make sure they are safe.
A recent update mentioned that over 25% of those planes were checked and they are safe to fly because no problems were found.
Boeing said it agreed with the FAA’s choice. and was working with the National Transportation Safety Board to understand what happened with Alaska Airlines.
“We care a lot about safety and we feel really sorry for how this event has affected our customers and their passengers,” Boeing said.
This is the newest issue with Boeing’s most popular airplane. It was not allowed to fly for nearly two years after crashes in 2018 and 2019. -
US airline customers are becoming more and more irritated
Despite the fact that air travel has recovered from its pandemic-induced dip, travellers are not happy about it.
According to J.D. Power’s 2023 North American Airline Satisfaction Study, travellers in North America are dissatisfied with expensive tickets, staffing shortages, and fewer routes.
According to the poll, North American airline passengers are generally satisfied, scoring 791 out of 1,000, which is a decrease of seven points from the 2022 research, which wasn’t exactly a stellar result either.
Michael Taylor, travel intelligence lead at J.D. Power, told CNN Travel that “continued high prices for travel” is the “biggest factor” in passengers’ dissatisfaction.
“This score continues to decline,” he said.
J.D. Power’s survey breaks down passenger satisfaction by cabin, with Southwest Airlines coming out on top for economy passengers for a second year in a row, with 827 points. Delta Air Lines came in second for economy travelers with 801 points, while JetBlue Airways is a close third with 800 points.
Delta Air Lines is number one for premium economy passengers with 848 points, JetBlue Airways is number two for premium economy with 840, while Alaska Airlines rounds out the premium economy top three with 823 points.
For those traveling first class or business, JetBlue topped the charts with a score of 893. Delta Air Lines ranks second for first class and business class travelers with 865 points, while United Airlines comes in third with 848 points.
J.D. Power found that first class and business class passenger feedback was the most positive overall – and notably, upper tier travelers notably rated their flying experience more highly than last year. Taylor attributes this to reinstated business class and first class food and drink services following a pandemic-enforced hiatus.
“In-flight services (food, beverage, entertainment) is the biggest factor for these upper-class cabins. It means more than the price they’re paying for the ticket,” said Taylor. “The ability to ‘get what is expected’ is sort of a rising tide that lifts all factors for these passengers.”
While compiling the survey, J.D. Power quizzed 7,774 travelers who’d flown with a major North America airline between March 2022 and March 2023. As well as considering ticket cost and in-flight services, passengers were asked to rate airlines on aircraft, baggage, boarding, check-in, flight crew and reservation experience.
According to Taylor, the most surprising result was the overall high score for flight crew.
“Being friendly and helpful when planes are jam-packed is difficult,” he said. “Usually, we see a decrease in scores when travel spaces are crowded and busy. Kudos to the airlines’ staff and crew for managing in a difficult time.”
Taylor also has a message for unsatisfied passengers, advising them that aviation is still in an “unusual situation” due to “high demand and lack of crews to man flights” and the landscape will likely shift again.
He also points towards a North American pilot shortage and its knock-on effects.
“Planes will be fuller and there will be fewer options in air travel until more pilots can be trained and qualified,” he said.
1. Southwest Airlines
2. Delta Air Lines
3. JetBlue Airways
4. Alaska Airlines
5. WestJet
6. Allegiant Air
7. United Airlines
8. Air Canada
9. American Airlines
10. Spirit Airlines
11. Frontier Airlines
1. Delta Air Lines
2. JetBlue Airways
3. Alaska Airlines
4. American Airlines
5. Air Canada
6. United Airlines
1. JetBlue Airways
2. Delta Air Lines
3. United Airlines
4. Alaska Airlines
5. Air Canada
6. American Airlines