Boeing is urging airlines to inspect 737 Max planes for possible loose bolts
Boeing has urged airlines to inspect all 737 Max planes for a possible loose bolt in the rudder control system after an international airline discovered a bolt with a missing nut while performing routine maintenance, the Federal Aviation Administration said Thursday.
After the international airline, which the agency did not name, found the missing nut, Boeing discovered that an undelivered 737 Max also had a nut that was not properly tightened, the FAA said.
Boeing said it has delivered more than 1,370 of these planes worldwide since 2017 and has insisted they are all inspected for possible loose hardware. The company said it was also inspecting its undelivered 737 Max aircraft.
“The issue identified with the affected aircraft has been resolved,” Boeing said in a statement. “Out of an abundance of caution, we encourage operators to inspect their 737 Max aircraft and notify us of any findings.”
The FAA said yes closely monitor inspections and would consider further action if further cases of loose or missing hardware were discovered.
Boeing said there have been no “in-service incidents” caused by potentially loose hardware and that flight crews routinely perform checks before leaving the gate that alert them if the rudder is malfunctioning.
Such inspections include removing an access panel and visually confirming that the bolt in the rudder control system is properly installed, Boeing said. The company added that the inspections by plane would take about two hours.
Several major U.S. airlines, including United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, American Airlines and Alaska Airlines, use the 737 Max, a single-aisle workhorse built for short- and medium-haul flights.
United and Alaska each said they did not expect the inspections to affect their operations. Alaska said it would begin the inspections on Thursday and expected to complete them in the first half of January. Southwest and American did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The 737 Max has a deeply troubled history.
In 2018, one of the planes, operated as Lion Air Flight 610, crashed into the ocean off the coast of Indonesia, killing all 189 passengers and crew on board. Less than five months later, in 2019, another, operated as Ethiopia Flight 302, crashed shortly after leaving Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, killing all 157 people on board.
Regulators around the world grounded the Max after the second crash. The FAA cleared it to fly again in late 2020 after Boeing made changes to the plane, including to MCAS, the flight control system behind the crashes. The company said in late 2019 that it had fired its CEO and agreed to a $2.5 billion settlement with the Justice Department in 2021.
Last year, Boeing reached a $200 million settlement with U.S. securities regulators, resolving an investigation into claims that the company and its former CEO misled investors about problems with the 737 Max that led to the deadly crashes.