PORTLAND, Ore. — The Alaska Airlines CEO revealed that "many" of its Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft were found to have loose bolts, as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) continues inspecting the model featured in the emergency landing at Portland International Airport (PDX), after a door plug blew out mid-flight.
In the first interview since Flight 1282 with NBC's Tom Costello, Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci addressed the company's findings, saying that they "found some loose bolts on many of our MAX 9s."
"I’m more than frustrated and disappointed,” Minicucci said. "I am angry. ... my demand on Boeing is what are they going to do to improve their quality programs in-house?"
"In addition to the FAA oversight that's going to come on top of this, we're now putting our own extra oversight on the production line in Boeing," he added, referring to the FAA's order to ground all 737 MAX 9s.
The FAA also launched a safety investigation, as did the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which came to Portland shortly after the incident.
On Jan. 5, the flight departed from PDX at 4:52 p.m., to Ontario, California. It then had to make an emergency landing after a door plug on the plane blew out about 15 minutes into the flight, leaving a gaping hole and causing a rapid decompression of the cabin. Some onboard described a "big bang" and "smoky smell," and a teenager lost his shirt and some of his personal effects.
"People have said if we were at a higher elevation, it could’ve been so much worse," Kelly Bartlett, a passenger on the flight, told KGW. "And it still could’ve been worse if (the teen) hadn’t had his seatbelt on or something. And so, I feel really lucky that it happened the way that it did."
The door plug was retrieved by NTSB investigators in the Cedar Mill area from the backyard of Portland science teacher Bob Sauer. The door plug was found intact on the ground, with a white piece of fuselage found on one of the trees on his property.
Flight information showed that the plane was a twin-jet Boeing 737 MAX 9. According to FAA records, the aircraft's certification date was Nov. 2, 2023, less than three months old.
Boeing is currently the focus of two lawsuits relating to the Jan. 5 incident, both brought forth by passengers on the flight. Though none of the 171 passengers and six crew members aboard were seriously injured, many were shaken and experienced difficulty breathing and ear bleeds; one of the lawsuits also claimed that many of the oxygen masks that dropped did not seem to work.
While the first lawsuit names only Boeing, the second mentions both Boeing and Alaska Airlines as "negligent." It singled out Alaska Airlines' failure to fix the problematic 737 MAX 9 model, which Alaska and United Airlines use, or inform passengers of the documented issues, even after knowing that there were issues endangered the lives of passengers.
Both companies' stock plunged sharply after the incident, with many flight cancelations nationwide and locally, and consumers expressing low confidence in both companies. Boeing’s CEO, David Calhoun, had acknowledged that they made a mistake.
United has also said that it found additional loose bolts on its MAX 9 planes.
There is still no timetable for returning the aircraft to service. Minicucci said that once the FAA issues its directive, it will take Alaska Airlines "several days to complete all the inspections and get the aircraft back in service." The inspection process will take "about 10 hours per door," he said.
FAA clears Boeing to fly again, despite lawmakers' qualms
The FAA said Wednesday that they have approved an inspection process that will let airlines resume flying their Boeing 737 Max 9 jetliners.
FAA's head, Mike Whitaker, said Wednesday that his agency's review of Flight 1282 gives him confidence to clear a path for the planes to return to flying.
Whitaker said the FAA would not agree to any Boeing request to expand production of Max planes until the agency is satisfied that quality-control concerns have been addressed.
Alaska Airlines confirmed the FAA returning the grounded fleets Wednesday, saying that that they have completed preliminary inspections for 20 of their 737 MAX 9s two weeks ago. They have 65 in their fleet.
"The first of our 737-9 MAX will resume flying on Friday, Jan. 26, with more planes added every day as inspections are completed and each aircraft is deemed airworthy. We expect inspections on all our 737-9 MAX to be completed over the next week," Alaska Airlines said in a statement on their website.
It is not known whether those include the aircraft at PDX.
U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Washington) said despite the FAA moving forward the approval process, it was still "extremely important" for NTSB to conduct a full investigation, as well as how Boeing and the FAA will prevent said incident from happening again.
“As Chair of the Appropriations Committee, my staff and I are continuing to ask questions and are working to pass a Transportation Appropriations bill that invests in air safety and includes critical funding for the FAA — it should be clear to everyone that we absolutely cannot afford to shortchange passenger safety by entertaining dramatic across-the board funding cuts like some House Republicans have been demanding,” Murray said in a press release.
Another Washington lawmaker, Sen. Maria Cartwell, who penned a letter scrutinizing FAA's oversight of Boeing, had met with Boeing’s CEO Wednesday.
“The American flying public and Boeing line workers deserve a culture of leadership at Boeing that puts safety ahead of profits. In today’s meeting with Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun, I made it clear that quality engineering and a commitment to safety always have to be the top priority. Hardworking engineers and machinists in the Pacific Northwest know this," she said in a statement.
Cartwell (D-Washington) added that she — as the chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation — will be "holding hearings to investigate the root causes of these safety lapses.”
No dates were announced for said hearings.
The Associated Press has contributed to the reporting of this story.