Due to multiple air crashes and hundreds of people killed, the Boeing 737 MAX has been called a "deadly airliner" by some. To this day, the negative news surrounding this model is still frequent.
According to a Reuters report on January 7 local time, due to the recent drop of the door of a 737 MAX 9 passenger plane of Alaska Airlines in the United States during a high-altitude flight, Boeing, which is waiting for the approval of the new model 737 MAX 10, has returned to the sight of regulators.
Previously, Boeing's doors were closed to China, a key market for Boeing, due to safety concerns about its 737 MAX. At the end of last year, Boeing was just revealed to have received a key approval from China's aviation regulator, and is "one step closer" to resuming deliveries of the 737 MAX family of aircraft to China. Now, according to sources, Chinese officials are closely monitoring the latest developments in the "high-altitude hatch falling incident".
At present, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has ordered the grounding of more than 171 Boeing 737 MAX 9 airliners until the agency confirms that the airliners are in a safe state. The BBC reported that the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has also adopted the FAA's emergency airworthiness directive, requiring the Boeing 737 MAX 9 to be grounded and inspected. However, the report said that airlines in EU member states are not currently operating "aircraft with the same configuration as the accident aircraft".
Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 Boeing 737 MAX 9 cabin wall fell off, source: social media
U.S. regulators are watching, and China is also concerned
The Alaska Airlines accident comes at a time when Boeing and its main supplier of the 737 MAX, Spirit AeroSystems, are grappling with ongoing failures that have hampered the return to service of the 737 MAX, which had been grounded due to safety concerns and the coronavirus pandemic.
According to the report, it is precisely because of a series of problems with the 737 MAX model that led to a comprehensive reform of aircraft regulation in the United States in 2020, and now the "high-altitude hatch drop incident" may prompt regulators to take a tougher stance on other issues with Boeing. Reuters also quoted sources as saying that in addition to domestic regulators in the United States, China is also closely monitoring the latest developments in this incident.
"The Paper" quoted Chen Jianguo, a senior captain in China and the founder of "Flying Circle", as far as he knows, there should be no 737 MAX 9 models flying in the mainland, and basically all 737 MAX 8 models.
Jeff Guzzetti, a former American plane crash investigator, said the first clue to the impact of the incident would be whether regulators approved certification for Boeing's smallest and least sold 737 MAX 7.
The FAA is currently evaluating whether to grant a waiver to allow the 737 MAX 7 to be certified until Boeing completes the required design changes. Guzzetti said the "high-altitude hatch drop incident" could be a "swinging pendulum" that swung the FAA's leanings to the side of the "veto."
Boeing and Genie Aerosystems declined to comment. The FAA said "security concerns will determine the timeline for ongoing certification projects," but declined to comment further.
In the face of Airbus competition, Boeing is "under great pressure"
Boeing has long been under pressure to expand its MAX product line and close the gap with rival Airbus. The 737 MAX was suspended in March 2019 at the request of the FAA following two crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia in 2018 and 2019, which killed 346 people. Since then, Airbus has not only continued to expand its market share, but its share price has risen by 25 percent, while Boeing's stock price has fallen by more than 40 percent.
Reuters reported in January 2020 that the grounding of the 737 MAX affected Boeing's overall performance in 2019, with its ranking reversing with rival Airbus in terms of aircraft deliveries. In July last year, China's three major airline groups (China Southern Airlines, Air China, and China Eastern Airlines) ordered 292 Airbus aircraft in one go, which was considered to be a huge blow to Boeing.
Data map: On July 21, 2019 local time, a Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft parked at an airport in Seattle. The picture is from The Paper
However, Boeing is not willing to be left behind by Airbus. Boeing's chief executive said at the time that "geopolitical events" had caused Boeing to "slow down" in the Chinese market, but he believed that "we will be back there one day, although it won't happen anytime soon."
It has been reported that airlines are increasingly looking to carry more passengers in single-aisle airliners due to low costs and improved performance and range. However, sales of the 737 MAX 9, Boeing's largest narrow-body aircraft, have disappointed, and Boeing is betting on its newer, larger-capacity 737 MAX 10 to compete with Airbus' best-selling A321 NEO.
Reuters pointed out that Boeing, which is burdened with $39 billion in debt, has been reluctant to invest in a brand new aircraft because of concerns that engine technology will not be mature enough in the next decade. Analysts believe that the delay in certification of the 737 MAX 10 could put new pressure on Boeing's strategy that began in the 20s.
Boeing airliners are constantly malfunctioning, and their quality has been criticized
On the evening of January 5, local time, an Alaska Airlines plane (Flight 1282) flying to Ontario, a city in southern California, found a hole in the side of the plane shortly after takeoff, and was forced to make an emergency landing.
The FAA said the crew reported a loss of pressure before the plane returned. According to US media reports, part of the fuselage of the passenger plane fell in the air at the time of the incident. According to the report, the dropped part is the rear emergency escape hatch, which is generally used when performing long-range flight missions, but most American airlines do not use this emergency hatch position, but arrange the seats as ordinary window seats.
The FAA ordered the temporary grounding of more than 170 Boeing 737 MAX 9s operated by American Airlines or operated within the United States on Jan. 6 to conduct safety checks on the aircraft. On January 7, local time, the FAA announced that more than 100 Boeing 737 MAX 9 passenger planes that have been grounded will continue to be grounded until the agency confirms that the relevant passenger aircraft are in a safe state.
Illustration of the position of the hatch behind the wing of the MAX 9, photo: Flightradar24 website
While it's too early to determine the cause of the accident, experts say the investigation could reignite discussions about the recent quality problems with Boeing's airliners if the production issue is the root cause of the door drop.
Coincidentally, on December 28, the F.A.A. said that Boeing was urging airlines to check their 737 MAX rudder control systems for possible looseness.
The FAA said it is closely monitoring this lock-in check for the Boeing 737 MAX and will consider additional action based on any further findings of loose or missing hardware. Previously, an international airline was inspecting a bolt that was missing a nut during a routine maintenance of its rudder control linkage. The FAA said Boeing found another undelivered plane with one of the nuts not being tightened.
In addition, the decline in Boeing's manufacturing level has also attracted attention. On April 20, 2019, the front page of the New York Times revealed that Boeing's 787 Dreamliner factory in North Charleston, South Carolina, USA, had serious production and regulatory problems that threatened aircraft safety.
The New York Times, which reviewed Boeing's internal emails, company documents and federal records, and interviewed a dozen current and former employees, found that Boeing tends to focus more on speed of production than on quality. Some employees have repeatedly reported quality problems in production to Boeing's senior management, but they have never been properly addressed. Joseph Clayton, a skilled worker at the factory, even said he often found dangerous debris near the power lines under the cockpit: "I told my wife that I never considered flying on these planes." ”
Photo taken by passengers after the plane landed, source: CNN
Boeing was previously revealed to have won a key license from the Chinese side, "one step closer to the delivery of the 737MAX"
Five years after the Boeing crash in Indonesia, the FAA finally announced changes to the certification regulations for the 737 MAX family of aircraft last November. Previously, the FAA lifted the grounding ban on the 737 MAX in November 2020, and other countries are gradually following suit.
At a regular press conference on November 31 last year, a foreign media reporter asked, and there are reports that China may agree to commit to the purchase of American Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, which means that the relationship between the two countries has ushered in an "icebreaker", which is also a long-awaited deal for Boeing. Do you have any comment on this?
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning replied: "I suggest you ask the competent authorities of the Chinese side to understand this issue. ”
Boeing has received a key approval from China's aviation regulators, Reuters and aviation industry outlet The Air Current reported on December 20. This means that after more than four years of suspension of deliveries, Boeing is "one step closer" to resuming deliveries of the 737 MAX family of aircraft to China.
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