HONOLULU (KHON2) — Several Hawaii flights have been affected following an order from the Federal Aviation Administration to ground Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes.
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On Saturday evening, Alaska Airlines said more flights are expected to be impacted on Sunday and through the work-week.
The grounding order came after an Alaska Airlines jetliner blew out a window and a portion of its fuselage shortly after takeoff three miles (4.8 kilometers) above Oregon around 5 p.m. PT on Friday.
The incident triggered the airline to ground its own fleet of the Boeing 737 Max 9 a few hours later, which left travelers headed to Anchorage and Seattle stuck in Honolulu.
“We were sitting at the gate for an hour or two [Friday night], our flight was at 8 p.m., and then we had to change the gate, when we moved to that gate, the next thing we hear was they canceled our flight due to a safety emergency,” explained passenger Russell Mose, who was flying to Anchorage to reach his destination in Fairbanks.
Alaska Airlines booked accommodations for travelers and told them to check back in Saturday morning to be re-booked which led to long lines at the customer service area at Honolulu’s airport.
“But these guys here said they’ve been booking people all morning, so the next available time would be Tuesday,” Mose said.
He said Alaska Air is paying for their hotel in Waikiki and also provided them meal vouchers.
Others were delayed which meant they couldn’t reach their connecting flights on the mainland.
“Either we pay $1,300 each to go home from here non-stop or we wait until 6 a.m. at the layover location,” said another traveler.
As of Saturday afternoon, Alaska Air said 18 of it’s 65 MAX 9 aircraft were cleared to return to service after being inspected and the remaining planes should be finished in the next few days.
The airline said several people were inured during the incident, but have since been medically cleared.
Passengers on board reported their cellphones flying out of the airplane when the panel broke off.
According to Alaska Airlines, the aircraft involved in flight 1282 entered the fleet on Oct. 31, 2023. The part of the aircraft involved in the incident is called a plug door – a specific panel of the fuselage near the rear of the aircraft.
Hawaii aviation expert Peter Forman said for this incident to happen is extremely rare.
“Basically, Alaska Air got this airplane and they don’t have the seating configuration to put a door there, so Boeing put in a plug to fill up the opening and that plug they put in failed,” Peter Forman explained. “It looked like a one off factory problem and there’s no way the crew or anyone could see it coming, it’s just a factory defect and I think the inspections will be quick, and they’ll get the fleet airborne again quickly.”
He said the air pressure holds the panel against ‘big stops’ which are located on the side of the fuselage and the stops next to where the panel broke off were still in tact. “So it looks like some how something happened with the panel that allowed it to shift down and away from those big pads,” Forman said.
He said it’s a reminder for everyone to always where their seatbelt, even if the fasten seatbelt sign isn’t illuminated.
“If someone was sitting there and they didn’t have their seatbelt on then it would have been very tragic,” he added.
As of 5 p.m. HST on Saturday, Alaska Airlines said 17 of its Hawaii flights have been impacted so far. Two flights out of Honolulu were canceled Friday night and the next day 15 flights were also grounded: three in Honolulu, five in Kona and seven in Kahului.
Guests whose flights have been impacted by this grounding are being notified with guidance on next steps and can goonlineto view flight options and rebook travel, place the value of their ticket in their Mileage Plan Wallet for future use, or request a refund.
Around 4 p.m. HST on Saturday, Alaska Airlines provided an update saying The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) assumed the lead role in the investigation and the following:
- Alaska made the decision to temporarily ground its 737-9 MAX fleet pending inspections which began early this morning.
- On Saturday, the FAA issued an emergency airworthiness directive (EAD), requiring all operators of the 737-9 MAX aircraft to conduct specific inspections before returning the aircraft to service. We are working with the FAA to ensure that our inspections meet their detailed requirements and comply with the EAD, but this process will take more time.
- Our voluntary temporary grounding of our 737-9 MAX fleet and ongoing work to comply with the FAA’s EAD has impacted travel plans for many of our guests. As of 4pm PT today, we have cancelled 160 total flights, affecting roughly 23,000 guests. We are identifying necessary cancellations for tomorrow and expect the disruption to last through at least mid-week. A flexible travel policy is in place for guests to change or cancel their flights. Guests should visit alaskaair.com for rebooking options. We are deeply sorry for the disruption this has caused our guests.
- Eighteen of Alaska’s 737-9 MAX aircraft received in-depth inspections as part of heavy maintenance checks and continued in service today until we received the FAA’s EAD. These aircraft have now also been pulled from service until details about possible additional maintenance work are confirmed with the FAA. We are in touch with the FAA to determine what, if any, further work is required before these aircraft are returned to service.
- The aircraft involved in flight 1282 was delivered to us on Oct. 31, 2023. The part of the aircraft involved in this event is called a plug door – a specific panel of the fuselage near the rear of the aircraft.
United has 79 Boeing 737- Max 9 aircraft in its fleet. The airline said it caused 60 cancelations nationwide on Saturday but wouldn’t respond to how many Hawaii flights were impacted. The airline said
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United has temporarily suspended service on all Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft to conduct inspections required by the FAA. We are working with the FAA to clarify the inspection process and the requirements for returning all MAX 9 aircraft to service.
