United and Alaska find loose bolts on MAX 9 door plugs

UPDATE 1/9 – United Airlines and Alaska Airlines have confirmed that they have identified loose bolts on door plug fittings. United confirmed a report from The Air Current that loose bolts were found on five MAX 9s after commencing preliminary inspections of its aircraft on Saturday, one day after the Alaska Airlines MAX 9 lost a door plug shortly after take-off from Portland. United said the bolts needed additional tightening. Alaska later said that it too had found loose bolts on some aircraft.

Aviation reporter Edward Russell shared a picture of a bottom fitting with loose bolts. Monday’s updates follow the news that the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has sent the recovered door plug to its materials laboratory in Washington. Together with detailed inspections of grounded MAX 9s with door plugs, this should produce more evidence of what happened during flight AS1282 on January 5.

Just after finishing a media briefing on Sunday evening, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said that the door plug had been found in the back garden in a residential area. The part was recovered from the garden early on Monday morning. NTSB pictures seem to indicate that the plug survived the drop from 16.000 feet to the ground intact. However, the agency didn’t reveal pictures of the backside and the status of the four fittings with which it should have been secured to the aircraft.