By Dominic Gates and Paige Cornwell Seattle Times staff reporters The near-catastrophic midair blowout of a door-sized fuselage panel on an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 in January was caused by two distinct manufacturing errors by different crews on successive days last fall in Boeing’s assembly plant in Renton. The first manufacturing lapse occurred within
Boeing, not Spirit, mis-installed piece that blew off Alaska MAX 9 jet, industry source says
By Dominic Gates Seattle Times aerospace reporter The fuselage panel that blew off an Alaska Airlines jet earlier this month was removed for repair then reinstalled improperly by Boeing mechanics on the Renton final assembly line, a person familiar with the details of the work told The Seattle Times. If verified by the National Transportation
Boeing and U.S. aerospace set back by Alaska Airlines fuselage blowout
Jan. 14, 2024 at 6:00 am Updated Jan. 14, 2024 at 6:00 am By Dominic Gates Seattle Times aerospace reporter When a door-sized section of a 737 MAX 9 fuselage exploded out into the void 16,000 feet over Portland, Boeing’s once-solid reputation, already staggered by the two MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019, took another
Boeing is under fire after Alaska Airlines MAX 9 blowout. So is the FAA
By Lauren Rosenblatt Seattle Times staff reporter Nearly a week after a panel blew off an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 aircraft midflight, lawmakers and federal regulators are starting to look to the Boeing plane’s troubled history to understand what happened — and what didn’t. On Thursday, fingers started pointing. The Federal Aviation Administration announced
Summer travel recovery restores Alaska Airlines’ stability, growth plans
An Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 sits inside a hangar at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in August. Travel statistics on the Department of Transportation website show Alaska had the top on-time performance among all U.S…. (Ken Lambert / The Seattle Times) By Dominic Gates Seattle Times aerospace reporter Alaska Air Group posted record third-quarter revenue