Following a mid-flight blow-out of what should have been an emergency exit door, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has grounded all Boeing 737 Max 9s, totalling to 171 aircraft worldwide prohibited from flying until inspections are carried out.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has adopted the Emergency Airworthiness Directive (EAD) issued by the FAA, although it clarifies that no airlines in the EU use the specific configuration that led to the problems on the Alaska Airlines flight. “To the Agency’s knowledge and also on the basis of statements from the FAA and Boeing, no airline in an EASA Member State currently operates an aircraft in the relevant configuration”, EASA said in a statement.
The 737-9 aircraft operating in Europe do not have this configuration and are therefore not grounded by the EAD and can continue to operate normally.
European Union Aviation Safety Agency
“In the specific set-up covered by the EAD, a mid-cabin exit is replaced by a plug-in panel. This configuration is typically adopted by airlines flying lower-density operations (with lower passenger capacity) where this additional exit is not required to meet evacuation safety requirements”, EASA explains. “The 737-9 aircraft operating in Europe do not have this configuration and are therefore not grounded by the EAD and can continue to operate normally.”
In EU vicinity, the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has also confirmed no 737 Max 9s with the plug-in panel are registered in the country. For extra safety, in case there are still flying troublesome planes out there, the CAA has forbidden this type of aircraft from being operated in UK airspace.
Boeing, whose market value dropped 8.6% on Monday morning, losing nearly $13 billion, said that safety is their number one priority and they “agree and fully support” the FAA’s decision to ground and inspect all the 737 Max 9s with the same configuration as the one involved in the accident on 5 January.
Unfortunately for the manufacturer, models from the 737 family have been involved in several accidents over the past few years, makingway for its European competitor, Airbus, to overtake worldwide production. In 2019, Boeing 737 Max aircraft were grounded for one and a half years after two crashed occurred within 6 months of each other, a Lion Air flight in Indonesia and an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Addis Ababa to Nairobi. In March 2022, a China Easter Airlines flight operated on a Boeing 737-89P nose-dived in the southern Chinese province of Guangxi, killing all 132 passengers and crew.
