Washington: The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said late on Monday it could not yet tell whether a recovered cabin panel that blew off an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 plane in mid-air last week had been properly attached.
The comments came after Alaska Airlines and the other US 737 MAX 9 operator, United Airlines, said on Monday they had found loose parts on multiple grounded aircraft, raising new concerns among industry experts about how Boeing’s best-selling jet family is manufactured.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounded 171 MAX 9 planes on Saturday after a panel called a door plug blew off the Alaska Airlines flight not long after taking off from a Portland, Oregon, airport on Friday, forcing pilots to scramble to land the plane safely.
