The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) yesterday forwarded a recommendation to airlines that have B-737/900ER aircraft in their fleet to inspect the plug doors. The goal is to ensure that these components are properly secured to the fuselage. A request that comes after some airlines reported the presence of unspecified problems with some bolts during inspections.

The recommendation follows the FAA's grounding of 171 B-737 MAX 9 aircraft. Decision taken after the emergency door of a plane of this model operated by the American company Alaska Airlines exploded in flight on January 5th. In fact, on the B-737/900ER and on the B-737 MAX 9, both produced by Boeing, the manufacturer offers the possibility of installing, as an option, plug doors on the fuselage, that is plugs that allow airlines to add of seats in the row where there is an additional emergency door.

For this reason, the FAA has issued an "Operator Safety Notice", revealing that some airlines that have conducted inspections of the 737/900ER plug doors have reported anomalies relating to the four bolts used to secure the door to the fuselage. Meanwhile, the FAA has announced that the MAX 9 aircraft will remain on the ground until "it is ascertained that they are safe to return to service".

On the same topic, see also the article published by AVIONEWS.