Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 Decompression

[hscs]

The weird thing is the 737-900 has the same plug door.. from what I've heard, no difference at all. It's been flying for decades without issue. Wonder why the max is grounded but not the 900? Just to appease the unaware public with minimal impact? Maybe part of the distrust of Spirit Aerosystems/Boeing's recent manufacturing processes?

I’d say there’s some validity in appeasing the public. Boeing may also have details about who did the installation on the factory line that can bound the problem to just the Max. There’s been a huge turnover in manufacturing jobs, so many industries do not have the experience they used to have.

 

[taxi1]

Maybe part of the distrust of Spirit Aerosystems/Boeing's recent manufacturing processes?

I’m thinking that is it. Not the design, the recent process.

From a WSJ article…

FAA chief Mike Whitaker, who was confirmed to his job in October, said in an interview that an initial examination of MAX 9 problems would extend to other aircraft—and how the agency regulates Boeing production.

“Whatever’s happened over the previous years—because this has been going on for years—has not worked,” he said. “All indications are it’s manufacturing” that led to the Alaska accident, he added, not a design flaw.

Also…

Some Spirit employees said production problems were common and internal complaints about quality were ignored. In a given month, at a production rate of two fuselages a day, there are 10 million holes that need to be filled with some combination of bolts, fasteners and rivets.

“We have planes all over the world that have issues that nobody has found because of the pressure Spirit has put on employees to get the job done so fast,” said Cornell Beard, president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers chapter representing workers at Spirit’s Wichita factory.

 

[sevenhelmet]

Of course the union is going to take the position that it’s all management’s fault. Bad management can make the problem worse, but it isn't the only causal factor. However, since the pandemic, there has been as much as 40% annual worker turnover in an industry that typically sees around 5%. These were the skilled laborers who were being paid more by the government to stay home during COVID, and many of them haven’t returned. Aerospace companies have had to train and retrain a lot more people than usual. Couple that with burgeoning demand for airplanes, and you have a recipe for QC issues, no matter who the managers are. It’s not surprising it would show up most notably on the highest rate production lines.

I personally think this is a lot more Boeing that Spirit. After those structures are shipped to Everett, they get mated to the wing, engines, and interiors installed, and Boeing does pressurization checks and production test flights. Their QC was the last to look at the airplane , because they’re the first to turn it into something resembling an airplane. If, Spirit F’d up a door that is removed during interior installation anyway, they should have caught it.

 

[taxi1]

Of course the union is going to take the position that it’s all management’s fault.

It is, ultimately, the fault of the people who run the company. Yes.

I still trace this back to the move of Boeing HQ to Chicago. No longer an engineering-centric company.

 

[sevenhelmet]

It is, ultimately, the fault of the people who run the company. Yes.

I still trace this back to the move of Boeing HQ to Chicago. No longer an engineering-centric company.

Boeing is certainly a shadow of its former self. I’m just pointing out that it’s more than (mis)management- the industry is under some unique pressures right now.

 

[JTS11]

Still better than Spirit...😄

 

[MIDNJAC]

It is, ultimately, the fault of the people who run the company. Yes.

I still trace this back to the move of Boeing HQ to Chicago. No longer an engineering-centric company.

Boeing HQ is now Arlington, VA. Even further.

 

[taxi1]

So I know it's probably not Boeing's fault, but when it rains it pours.

FAA investigating after Delta Boeing plane loses front nose wheel before takeoff

The FAA said Tuesday it will investigate after a tire under the front nose of a Delta Boeing 757 fell off one of the wheels and rolled down a nearby embankment.

abcnews.go.com

In air traffic control audio included in a report from the FAA, a controller is heard alerting the pilot of the situation, saying, "One of your nose tires just came off; it just rolled off the runway behind you."

 

[ABMD]

31M views · 3.1M reactions | no because how does this happen 😭 |

no because how does this happen 😭.

www.facebook.com

For some reason I was envisioning hurricane force winds with people hanging onto their seats 😂 seems pretty mild on board

exactly, those passengers seem completely unfazed!

 

[robav8r]

https://x.com/aviationbrk/status/1750168402193264643?s=20

"The door plug that blew off the Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 was removed and re-installed improperly by Boeing mechanics in Renton."

 

[Mos]

exactly, those passengers seem completely unfazed!

Saw a news interview with one of the passengers several days ago and she said that it was loud enough that she had to use written notes to communicate with a fellow passenger, so the video may not paint the whole picture.

 

[MIDNJAC]

So I know it's probably not Boeing's fault, but when it rains it pours.

FAA investigating after Delta Boeing plane loses front nose wheel before takeoff

The FAA said Tuesday it will investigate after a tire under the front nose of a Delta Boeing 757 fell off one of the wheels and rolled down a nearby embankment.

abcnews.go.com

In air traffic control audio included in a report from the FAA, a controller is heard alerting the pilot of the situation, saying, "One of your nose tires just came off; it just rolled off the runway behind you."

Like you say, the media is currently having a field day for clicks over anything they can say is a "further setback for Boeing". This, the Atlas 747 engine fire, Secretary of State's airplane breaking on the ground (that was a 737) requiring him to change planes (oh the horror). These people are absolute morons, whether the topic is aviation, or anything else. And their polling seems to consist of asking their friend or roommate what they think about any given topic. But anyway, there is a difference between a legitimate manufacturing defect, and items just wearing out or breaking while in service. We all know this, but fortunately for clickbait media, the public does not.

 

[ea6bflyr]

Like you say, the media is currently having a field day for clicks over anything they can say is a "further setback for Boeing". This, the Atlas 747 engine fire, Secretary of State's airplane breaking on the ground (that was a 737) requiring him to change planes (oh the horror). These people are absolute morons, whether the topic is aviation, or anything else. And their polling seems to consist of asking their friend or roommate what they think about any given topic. But anyway, there is a difference between a legitimate manufacturing defect, and items just wearing out or breaking while in service. We all know this, but fortunately for clickbait media, the public does not.

Sounds like a certain F-14 RIO YouTuber we all know.

 

[taxi1]

Interesting article, interview of former Naval Aviator. Anybody fly with Ed Pierson?

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/02/26/former-boeing-employee-speaks-out-00142948?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-us

Last year, I was flying from Seattle to New York, and I purposely scheduled myself on a non-MAX airplane. I went to the gate. I walked in, sat down and looked straight ahead, and lo and behold, there was a 737-8/737-9 safety card. So I got up and I walked off. The flight attendant didn’t want me to get off the plane. And I’m not trying to cause a scene. I just want to get off this plane, and I just don’t think it’s safe. I said I purposely scheduled myself not to fly [on a MAX].

 

[robav8r]

Interesting article, interview of former Naval Aviator. Anybody fly with Ed Pierson?

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/02/26/former-boeing-employee-speaks-out-00142948?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-us

Last year, I was flying from Seattle to New York, and I purposely scheduled myself on a non-MAX airplane. I went to the gate. I walked in, sat down and looked straight ahead, and lo and behold, there was a 737-8/737-9 safety card. So I got up and I walked off. The flight attendant didn’t want me to get off the plane. And I’m not trying to cause a scene. I just want to get off this plane, and I just don’t think it’s safe. I said I purposely scheduled myself not to fly [on a MAX].

"They don’t value the engineers, they think the engineers are replaceable. You can’t take a 20- or 30-year employee and just dump them off to the side and think that you’re going to find somebody off the street that’s going to be able to do what that person does."

I have heard this routinely from a number of different sources.