Boeing faces heat after Alaska Airlines door blast incident

Aircraft behemoth Boeing is under heavy scrutiny after federal aviation officials ordered the grounding of Boeing 737 Max 9 jets over the weekend following a Friday incident on an Alaska Airlines flight.

A plug door of the flight headed for Ontario, California, blew out just 10 minutes into takeoff, exposing passengers to howling winds mid-air.

No serious injuries were reported as all passengers were wearing their seatbelts, and the seats near the plug door were unoccupied. An investigation is underway.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chair, Jennifer Homendy, revealed that the plane’s auto-pressurization fail light had illuminated on three flights in the weeks leading to the incident, prompting tests and a reset.

The NTSB ordered inspections on 171 Boeing 737 Max 9 planes with similar door parts, a move that caused hundreds of United, Air Canada and Alaska Airlines flight cancellations on Sunday.

United and Alaska Airlines combined canceled more than 340 flights on Sunday.

While the investigation is underway, it raises new questions and adds pressure to the company, particularly given the history of the 737 Max. The Max 8 version was involved in two crashes in 2018 and 2019 and killed a total of 136 passengers.

The 737 Max is Boeing’s best-seller and has over 4,500 outstanding orders, constituting more than 76% of its order book.