On January 5th, an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft ran into serious trouble just after departing from Oregon, USA.

After takeoff, a crew member reported a pressurization issue due to a hole that suddenly appeared in the plane's fuselage.

Seeing the hole, the passengers of Flight 1282 became extremely frightened.

Fortunately, the seats next to the hole were empty, but a teenage boy and his mother were sitting nearby.

Passengers reported seeing the boy’s shirt being sucked out of the plane, and the cabin crew quickly moved them to safety.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed that the plane landed safely, and fortunately, nobody was seriously injured, although there were a few minor injuries.

Additionally, the FAA discovered that the door plug bolt was not fully tightened on 10 out of 79 Alaska Airlines 737 MAX airplanes.

The door plug, a cover installed on windows and wall parts, was a major cause of the incident.

Carrying 177 passengers, the plane experienced a dramatic episode when the door plug was entirely detached from the aircraft’s side after takeoff.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) found that the door plug on the Boeing 737 MAX9 must be secured with 4 main bolts to stabilize vertical movement and an additional 12 fasteners along the edges of the cover.

A loosening of these bolts was discovered.

Consequently, Alaska Airlines decided to temporarily stop flying 65 planes of the same model while they carefully inspected them all .

Following the incident, Alaska Airlines tentatively extended the suspension of all MAX9 aircrafts from operations.

The airplane manufacturer, Boeing, is diligently working to understand the cause of the event and has asked global airlines operating the same model to conduct thorough checks as a safety measure.

The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), an organization responsible for investigating and prosecuting breaches of global aviation safety rules--emphasized the importance of understanding the incident carefully.

Recent accidents have further raised people’s anxiety about Boeing 737s, but some emphasize that it is also important to distinguish these recent accidents from previous crashes that lead to the model's long-term grounding.

The Boeing 737 had various issues and accidents in the past, which aroused high concern.

Back in October 2018, a Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX 8 crashed into the sea, and tragically, all 189 passengers on board died.

In March 2019, an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 also crashed, and none of the 157 people on board survived.

As recently as January 13th, a crack was discovered in the cockpit window of an ANA flight (Boeing 737 MAX9) departing from New Chitose Airport in Hokkaido, en route to Toyama.

The aircraft, carrying 59 passengers and 6 crew members, returned safely to New Chitose Airport, roughly 20 minutes after takeoff.

In the aftermath, Boeing faced challenges as airlines from Panama, Mexico, Turkey, and Indonesia also halted operation of the same aircraft .

One thing worth noting is that Korean airlines do not operate the ‘MAX 9’ model that was involved in the recent incident.

In South Korea, ‘Boeing 737 MAX 8’ planes are in service with several airlines including Korean Air, Eastar Jet, T’way Air, Jeju Air, and Jin Air.

Following the two events , the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport mandated an urgent safety inspection of these aircrafts, which later reported no safety concerns.

During an interview with a frequent flyer, businessman Jun Kim expressed increased vigilance, now checking the aircraft model before booking flights, favoring caution over convenience.

The rising concern among the public has also impacted Boeing’s stock price, which dropped by over 8% on the New York Stock Exchange following the accident.

Sohyun Stella Won

Grade 10

Korea International School, Jeju