The US government has stated that it will not rush to clear grounded Boeing 737 Max 9 planes following a mid-air blowout.
The planes, which were grounded in the United States after an incident on an Alaska Airlines flight, “need to be 100% safe,” according to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
When the planes will be able to fly again is unknown.
The episode was termed as a “quality escape” by Boeing’s CEO, Dave Calhoun.
It implies that the incident was caused by a flaw in quality control in the plane, which had only been in operation for eight weeks before to the burst.
No-one was injured when the panel – or door plug – broke away from the Alaska Airlines flight from Portland, Oregon, forcing the plane to make an emergency landing.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounded 171 Boeing jets on Saturday that were installed with the same door plug.
The door plug is a piece of fuselage, with a window, that fills the space where an emergency exit would be in certain configurations.
Earlier this week, a section of the fuselage from a Boeing 737 Max 9 plane operated by Alaska Airlines blew-out within minutes of take-off.
Alaska Airlines has cancelled about 20% of its flights after 65 of its Max 9s were grounded. United Airlines, the other US 737 MAX 9 operator, has 79 of the planes in its fleet out of action.
It said it expects “significant” cancellations on Thursday after 167 flights did not go ahead on Wednesday.
Alaska Airlines stated that it still requires new inspection and maintenance instructions from Boeing, which must be authorized by the FAA before the planes can be flown again.
Both Alaska and United reported finding loose parts on a number of the grounded planes.
During examinations of the door plug that came loose from the Alaska Airlines plane, United discovered bolts that needed “additional tightening.”
Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, said on Monday that the bolts could have been missing from the start but came out during the fall.
