Editorial: Midair terror in Boeing jet another blow for planemaker

A photo shared on Twitter of the Alaska Airlines plane after a section of the window and side wall blew out. Photo / Twitter

Investigators, airlines and Boeing are scrambling to find out what went wrong on an Alaska Airlines plane on which an unused emergency exit door blew out, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the fuselage.

The terrifying failure at 16,300 feet has meant the spotlight is again on Boeing and Alaska Airlines which was aware of potential problems with the “door plug” on the near-new plane.

The Boeing 737 first entered service in 1968 and quickly became the workhorse of airline fleets around the world. Close to 12,000 of the narrow-body planes have been delivered and for decades they forged a formidable reputation for safety and reliability.

Until the aircraft maker introduced the Boeing Max.

The new iteration of the jet first flew in 2016 and quickly became Boeing’s fastest-selling plane. It was promoted as being more fuel efficient than earlier models, with more seats and a greater range to make it more attractive to airlines and counter the threat from the popular Airbus A320 family.

But Boeing’s Max had a tragic introduction to service with two fatal accidents within five months of each other in 2018 and 2019, first a Lion Air and then an Ethiopian Airlines crash, killing 346 people.

Max planes were grounded for 20 months, and Boeing changed an automated flight control system that was found to be flawed. Questions were also raised about how the plane was certified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Since then, there have been concerns about the anti-ice system and the risk of a loose bolt in the rudder control system. Then came the door plug blowout on the Max-900 plane. It was fortunate it happened as the plane was climbing and passengers were belted in. Nobody among the 171 on board suffered injuries and the plane landed safely. The two seats closest to what became a hole in the fuselage were also empty.

Most of the 215 Max-900s fly in the United States. While Fiji Airways and Batik Air operate Boeing Max planes in New Zealand, those -800 series planes have a shorter fuselage without the need for a door plug.

Investors were quick to deliver their verdict on the Alaska Airlines incident. Boeing shares fell 8.6 per cent at the start of trading on Wall Street, wiping out $21.6 billion from its market capitalisation. Boeing again will face questions about whether it is putting profit before safety.

The renewed scrutiny will be good for the company, which has restated safety is its number one priority and in the long run, will be good for passengers.

The midair emergency came days after the collision on the ground between a Japan Airlines A350 aircraft and a Japan Coast Guard plane in Tokyo’s Haneda Airport. Five people aboard the Coast Guard plane died but 367 people on the A350 evacuated the aircraft without serious injuries as it was engulfed in flames.

Both accidents prove how valuable a well-trained, skilled crew is in an emergency and why passengers must listen carefully to the important safety messages they issue.