by Donald Wood
Last updated: 10:20 AM ET, Mon January 22, 2024
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is now recommending
that airlines perform inspections on mid-exit
door plugs installed on another Boeing plane model.
According to ABC
News, the FAA said Sunday night that flight operators of the Boeing
737-900ER aircraft “visually inspect mid-exit door plugs to ensure the door is
properly secured,” with Boeing fully supporting the move.
Aviation experts revealed that the 737-900ER features the
same door plug design as the 737 Max 9. The FAA announced that the Boeing plane
has over 11 million hours of operation and is flown by major airlines, such as
Alaska, Delta and United.
Representatives from the three United States carriers said
inspections of the 737-900ER started last week, with no operational impact expected
and no issues detected thus far. In total, there are 380 impacted aircraft in
service worldwide.
The additional scrutiny of Boeing’s mid-exit door plugs on
certain planes comes after a failure resulted in a massive hole being ripped in
the fuselage of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-Max 9 earlier this month.
The FAA continues to work with the National Transportation
Safety Board (NTSB) on the formal investigation, while the impacted Max
9 aircraft remained grounded.
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