US FAA recommends inspection of door latches on Boeing 737-900ER aircraft

Earlier this month, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounded 171 Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft after an Alaska Airlines plane suffered a mid-flight fuselage breakup. The plane had been in service for just eight weeks before the incident.

The FAA said the Boeing 737-900ER is not part of the new MAX fleet, but has the same door latch design. Therefore, on January 21, the agency issued an “Operator Safety Alert.”

The FAA notice said some airlines conducted additional inspections of the emergency exit latches in the mid-fuselage area of the 737-900ER "and discovered bolt deficiencies during maintenance inspections."

In response to the move, a Boeing spokesperson affirmed that the company always supports the FAA and customers as comprehensively as possible to overcome these errors.

The Boeing 737-900ER has more than 11 million operating hours and 3.9 million flight cycles. While the FAA has confirmed that the door latch is not a problem with the aircraft, it still encourages airlines to conduct visual inspections to ensure there are no errors.

In Boeing's design, the 737-900 and MAX 9 aircraft will be equipped with an additional door stop or an additional emergency exit if the airline wants to install additional seats for passengers.

(Source: Tin Tuc Newspaper)