Aircraft manufacturer Boeing has urged its suppliers to make sure bolts are properly tightened following the grounding of its 737 MAX 9 planes.
An exclusive story by Reuters claims to have seen a memo sent by Boeing after multiple airlines reported loose hardware during inspections of the grounded aircraft.
The move follows an accident on January 5 when a door panel ripped off of an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 jet while in mid-air. The plane was forced to make an emergency landing and the piece of fuselage was later recovered in Oregon.
The Federal Aviation Administration grounded 171 MAX 9 planes with the same door panel configuration. Both United Airlines and Alaska Airlines subsequently reported finding loose parts on multiple MAX 9 aircraft.
According to the memo, the U.S. plane maker said that it is “imperative” that suppliers meet quality requirements and that bolts are “properly torqued”.
“Ensure that work instructions are mistake-proof and quality is continuously monitored – particularly torquing requirements,” it states according to the Reuters story.
The FAA has already expanded safety inspections of Boeing 737 door plugs beyond the company’s MAX 9 models to the older and larger fleet of 737-900ER jets.
At the weekend the FAA also issued a safety alert advising all airlines to ‘visually inspect mid-exit door plugs to ensure the door is properly secured”.
