United investigation finds Boeing door plugs had loose bolts

United Airlines investigators found loose bolts and other door plug installation issues when investigating their fleet of Boeing 737 Max 9s — potential clues to indicate how the same piece of fuselage blew out on a recent Alaska Airlines flight.

Both United and Alaska have grounded their fleet of the commercial airplanes and canceled hundreds of flights in the aftermath of the incident, which occurred on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 from Portland International Airport to Ontario on Friday night.

The flight had reached about 16,000 feet elevation when the cabin underwent “explosive decompression,” according to Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, and the door plug burst off the side of the plane.

Among revelations at a Sunday night news conference, the NTSB chief said that the door plug the agency had been searching for had been found by a Portland teacher in his backyard.

In addition, she said that before Friday’s midair incident, the plane had been restricted from long flights over water because of a warning light that had gone off at least three times in the last month, possibly indicating a pressurization problem on the aircraft.

United Airlines investigators found loose bolts and other door plug installation issues when investigating their fleet of Boeing 737 Max 9s — potential clues to indicate how the same piece of fuselage blew out on a recent Alaska Airlines flight.

Both United and Alaska have grounded their fleet of the commercial airplanes and canceled hundreds of flights in the aftermath of the incident, which occurred on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 from Portland International Airport to Ontario on Friday night.

The flight had reached about 16,000 feet elevation when the cabin underwent “explosive decompression,” according to Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, and the door plug burst off the side of the plane.

Among revelations at a Sunday night news conference, the NTSB chief said that the door plug the agency had been searching for had been found by a Portland teacher in his backyard.

In addition, she said that before Friday’s midair incident, the plane had been restricted from long flights over water because of a warning light that had gone off at least three times in the last month, possibly indicating a pressurization problem on the aircraft.