Mid-Air Blowout Over Portland Leads To Boeing Plane Grounding
The latest on the investigation and a reality check on the safety of flying
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Good morning,
The 81st Golden Globes winners (and snubs) are here! It’s a good clue into what to watch before March's Oscars and some of the best TV from the year.
For TV, “Succession” won big, taking home 4 globes. “The Bear” and “Beef” each won 3.
On the movie side, it was a huge night for “Oppenheimer,” which had 5 wins. The big snub came for “Barbie,” which was nominated for the most film awards, but lost in almost all the major categories. It did pull out a victory in a brand new category honoring “cinematic and box office achievement.” The big winner for comedy/musical was “Poor Things.”
Here’s a full list of the winners.
Notably, the Emmys (Jan. 15), the Grammys (Feb. 4) and the Oscars (March 10) all will take place in the next two months.
🍿 Happy watching!
Mosheh, Jill, & Lauren
🗞 DOOR PANEL FALLS OFF ALASKA AIRLINES PLANE MID-FLIGHT
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered the grounding of Boeing 737 Max 9 aircrafts, once again putting Boeing’s 737 Max planes under scrutiny.
It follows a terrifying sequence Friday evening: a 4 foot by 2 foot door plug from a Boeing 737 MAX 9 blew out at 16,000 feet on an Alaska Airlines flight headed from Portland to Ontario, California. Everyone on board survived without any major injuries, but now the FAA is investigating how it happened. Late Sunday night, investigators said an Oregon teacher named “Bob” found the panel that blew off the plane.
🚨 The MAX is the newest version of Boeing’s 737, a twin-engine, single-aisle jet frequently used for US domestic flights. The model went into service in May 2017. The FAA said the jets will “remain grounded until the FAA is satisfied that they are safe,” causing flight cancellations and delays this week.
✈️ ALASKA AIRLINES FLIGHT 1282
About 10 minutes after takeoff, a piece of a jet holding 171 passengers and six crew members blew out at row 26. The flight was nearly full, with 178 total seats.
Passengers said it sounded like an explosion. Cabin pressure plummeted. Oxygen masks were deployed. Some belongings were sucked out.
No one was sitting at 26A and 26B, the seats next to the door plug that blew off. The headrests of two seats and the back of one blew off.
The Alaska pilot told air-traffic control that the jet had lost pressurization and needed to go back to Portland.
🎧 Listen to the audio.
Less than 30 minutes after leaving Portland, the flight was back on the ground at Portland International Airport with all passengers and crew safe.
This particular plane is brand new — it had been first registered in November and had logged only 145 flights.
Via: Seattle Times
ZOOM INTO THE MODEL
The panel in question was actually an emergency exit door that had been “deactivated" by Boeing before delivery. Now the FAA is inspecting about 200 Max 9 jets configured that way.
According to Reuters, the extra door is “typically installed by low-cost airlines using extra seats that require more paths for evacuation.”
On jets with fewer seats — like those used by Alaska Airlines — the door remains permanently "plugged," or deactivated. It appears like a normal panel/window seat to passengers.
Planes that have an active emergency exit door in that position, won’t be inspected.
The investigation is in its early stages, officials from the National Transportation Safety Board have said.
📍Notable reporting in The Seattle Times: Pilots had filed reports in the days leading to the incident on Friday that they were getting cabin pressure alerts and pressurization warnings. The airline restricted the plane from long distance flights over water— but they kept it in service for the flights over land.
Airlines that planned to use Max 9 jets in January. Via: WSJ
MORE BAD NEWS FOR BOEING
This issue is not connected to the issues that grounded the Boeing 737 Max plane a few years ago, but it’s still important in terms of context.
Two crashes involving Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft– a slightly smaller version of the Max 9 plane—killed more than 300 people in less than five months in 2018 and 2019. The crashes involved Lion Air in Indonesia and Ethiopian Air outside Addis Ababa.
Both crashes were later associated with a malfunctioning system that overrode pilot commands.
Those crashes led to a global grounding of Boeing 737 Max planes, parking hundreds of aircraft for nearly two years while engineers worked to identify and solve the problem.
Boeing agreed to pay $2.5 billion in a settlement with the DOJ to resolve criminal charges that it had tried to defraud the FAA. The entire saga has cost the company more than $20 billion, per the New York Times.
This time around, a key supplier, Spirit AeroSystems, manufactured the blown out door plug and has been linked to other issues affecting production of the Max jets.
In late 2023, Boeing notified regulators about a set of improperly drilled holes by the rear bulkhead and possible loose bolt in the jets’ rudder-control system.
And more, the FAA told pilots to limit use of an anti-ice system on the Max in dry conditions because of concerns of overheating engines that could break away and hit the plane.
✔︎ Mo News Reality Check: Before you swear-off air travel, remember there are far fewer plane related deaths than those by car or train. In 2022, there were 42,795 fatal car crashes in the US. Across the world that same year, there were 160 fatalities in commercial air transport accidents.
Another reminder from a journalist Charles Fishman: This plane was going at 400 mph, 3 miles up in the air with a hole in the side of it. And yet, it stayed intact. The pilots landed in minutes. No one was seriously injured.
There has only been ONE crash in the last 17 years in United States— out of 100 million+ flights and 100 billion miles+ traveled. At the same time, there was some luck at play Friday as the two seats in the row next to the blown-out panel were both unoccupied at the time.
💡It is a good reminder to always wear your seat belt on airliners, even when the sign is off. Here are some tips to follow in an airline emergency.
⏳ SPEED READ
🚨NATION
📌 Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin faces growing heat from Congress over hiding hospitalization (USA TODAY)
📌 The Supreme Court will decide if Donald Trump can be kept off 2024 presidential ballots (AP)
📌 Congressional leaders announce spending deal that would avert next government shutdown, Freedom Caucus calls it “failure” (ABC NEWS)
📌 Iowa school shooter appeared to be active on Discord and discussed ‘gearing up’ in hours before attack (NBC NEWS)
🌎 AROUND THE WORLD
📌 Hamas command in north Gaza destroyed, Israel says (BBC)
📌 20-mile backup as Polish truckers blockade border in standoff with Ukrainian drivers (NPR)
📌 Ground zero of Japan’s earthquake zone is ravaged by destruction and fire (NBC NEWS)
📌 Jordan's King Abdullah says US must pressure Israel to agree to ceasefire in Gaza (TIMES OF ISRAEL)
📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH
📌 An exceptionally powerful January storm will impact the US with nearly every winter weather threat imaginable (CNN)
📌 Radio giant Audacy files for bankruptcy (AXIOS)
📌 First US moon launch in decades to include ‘space burials’ (THE HILL)
📌 Tesla, SpaceX leaders concerned over Elon Musk’s drug use (FORTUNE)
🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT
📌 Michigan vs. Washington prediction, odds, pick, spread for 2024 college football national championship game tonight (CBS SPORTS)
📌 Nigel Lythgoe departs 'So You Think You Can Dance' amid sexual assault allegations (NPR)
📌 Oscar Pistorius released from South Africa prison after serving 9 years for murdering girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp (CNN)
📌 ‘The Golden Bachelor’ wedding: Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist get married in live special (VARIETY)
🗓 ON THIS DAY: JANUARY 8
Justin and Britney rock Canadian Tuxedos on this day in 2001.
1835: President Andrew Jackson achieved his goal of entirely paying off the US’ national debt. For the first and only time, all of the government's interest-bearing debt was paid off. A 6 year economic depression would follow.
The current US debt is 34 trillion.
1968: Otis Redding's single "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" was released.
1992: President George H.W. Bush, who had reportedly contracted a food-borne illness, vomits on Japanese Prime Minister during dinner.
2011: U.S. Representative Gabby Giffords was shot during an assassination attempt; although she survived, six others were killed.