Someone probably just got their dad fired.

Nothing controversial in that statement

Well, there was a window in that door, so not entirely wrong. But yeah, I would've shat my pants if I was in that row. Or the one behind it, or in front of.. etc. etc.

Wind noise wasn't as bad as expected. But you know some Karyn in first class was asking a flight attendant if they could do anything about the noise.

older dudes might remember this worse one

Aloha Airlines

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aloha_Airlines_Flight_243

That's not a door, is it?  They don't put doors up against seats.

Someone’s dad is getting fired.

Also, Boeing fucks up again

The son just named his father's employer as being involved, then claims that Alaska probably removed the part to rearrange seating and fucked up.  Boeing's design, Alaska merely accepts the product, his dad's employer did the actual manufacturing and is going to get investigated for defects and maybe for installation errors.

Not only that, but it sounds like the kid and dad were talking about an actual door, not the plug that was installed -- so the dad's employer might NOT have been involved at all, if the plugs are made by a different company.

And regardless, aiming attention at the employer at the start of an investigation, when it's not even known if it was the right part, well, good luck on Monday.

Edit: actually opening up the first tweet to see the tail end of it, the kid is definitely talking about a plug (and terrorists!), so I don't know why in the third tweet he says the father thinks someone opened the "door" and "didn't shut that door right."

If I were in one of those seats, I would undoubtedly be sitting next to a massive land whale. They would block the wind for me.  And if we crashed, I'd have a supply of blubber.

Man I hope not. I was going to dump my stock right before the holidays and still haven't gotten around to it.

I buckle up when I board and unbuckle when we get to the arrival gate. Unbuckle to go take a P but that's it.  Turbulence car f u up too

Not surprised. As with most other things, they don't build 'em like they used to... yellingatclouds.gif was it made in China by some poor CCP slave too?

If that happened at cruise altitude, burrrrrrrr

I'd be more worried about posting it on the innerwebz. I also like how the "kid" states that his dad said its a plug, but later says "dad said someone didn't close the door correctly". Probably just some edgelord looking for his 15 min of fame.

QA/QC gonna be up some assholes with a camera Monday morning.

Kharn

Pilot after hearing the bang:

Think it said 16k, cold enough. Probably loud too. I guess the initial "pop" probably made everyone half deaf.

I was inside a pressurized aircraft once when it was inadvertently depressurized and it was unpleasant, that was just testing, sitting on the ground.

They don’t inflate.

A while I hope not either, given Boeing’s track record there’s no way in hell I would bet on them not being responsible.

Sign says seat 26.

Yeah

I rode that shit down from ~450 so I deserve what I get I guess. Hard to say with this one though. I have no idea where these things get outfitted. I've dealt with the older generation 737 derivatives for about 5 mins, and have worked at completion center. It the poster on page 3 is correct, the doors were outsourced to Taiwan and Boeing is responsible even if it's a manufacturing issue. Some dumbass forgot to bolt an engine on to a 737 once before though so who knows at this point. I do doubt it's a design issue unless the newer ones have something unique going on with their doors.

All doors are plug type, they have to rotate inward in order to open and then swing out. There are no inflight lockout mechanisms. It is a manual lock, the only thing that keeps that manual lock from being unlocked and the door opened in flight is positive PS differential.

ETA. I see this was a plug for a door, not a door.

I think it is a plugged door.

Airframe is modular. The door structure is built in and plugged if not needed due to passenger capacity of a particular aircraft.

Needed better plugging.

It's really starting to sound like he'd be doing everyone a favor, maybe even boeing.

Did they outsource the door plugs to India?

I didn't realize it is common for people to unbuckle during the flight. Granted, I have an extreme unreasonable fear of flying, but I always thought the seatbelt sign lets you know when you are able to get up to go to the bathroom. People are out there riding on planes unbuckled?

When something this big happens it’s a great time to STFU and let lawyers do what they get paid to do. No need to highlight yourself or the company you work for even if you think it’s innocent and makes the company look good.

Yeah. I can't say much since I have lost all of my original analysis at this point. "You don't need that stuff, it's ugly and takes up too much room. Here are a couple of fresh out of school guys to help you recreate it whenever you need". I need to find a new occupation because this industry is fucked.

When the fuselages are delivered (by rail) to Boeing they are already assigned to the airline that has been waiting (months, years) for that aircraft, so in this case that piece of structure is in place. So, firstly, yes it was installed and inspected/signed off by QC in Wichita. When the hull enters the factory in Renton it's nothing but a hollow shell. There are no walls, no seats, nothing... All the electrics, hydraulics and fittings are installed in a series of "flow days" as the plane is pulled through the factory. Both the vertical and horizontal stabilizers, the wings and the landing gear are bolted into place (the wings are the only major structure still made on site, the stabs are either Korean or Chinese, and I don't know who makes the gear).

The flow days have pre-assigned "packages" of work, and dedicated teams of union workers who accomplish them. They also have QC inspectors who sign off on all the work that gets done. But...sometimes parts are late, or worse yet get damaged. There's a ton of drilling that gets done, and sometimes that does damage, too. When that happens the problem goes to an engineer for disposition. Meanwhile the fuselage is continuing to move down the line - because NOTHING stops the line, if you want to keep your job - meaning other structure and/or components may get laid in over top of the missing component or damaged area.

The problems are carefully tracked...they "belong" to the manager of the flow day responsible for that installation. At some point he has to coordinate the removal and reinstallation of any overlaying or interfering stuff so his guys can get in there and install the part or fix the damage. First level line production manager is pure hell. One of the VPs came to a professional development day for new hire managers and flat out said, (para) "I understand the pressure you're under. It's widely regarded as the worst job in Boeing." No kidding, sir.

Once in a great while fuselage damage gets done. Say, just as an example, someone drives a man-lift into the side of the fuselage and does shell damage. Spirit isn't involved, that's purely on Boeing, and they have a team that fixes stuff like that. Anyway...that opens the door (sorry) for that plug to have been removed and reinstalled at some point on the line. Meaning two possible points of failure, at either Spirit or Boeing. The wall is in place long before delivery to Alaska, and I can't imagine any scenario where they'd remove that plug. Doesn't mean it couldn't of happened, but the odds are very, very small.

Bottom line is we need to withhold judgment until the investigation is done. Stress fractures can be pretty much invisible until they're put under pressure and the component or its mounting fails. Boeing or Spirit...it's an insanely complex build, and I can easily see this going either way.

Yep.  Lost just one person IRC; a stewardess.  They never found her.  

On a 737.

<--- In the business...

Those beautiful new VC-25’s he negotiated for?

United Airlines to ground Boeing 737 Max 9 planes after panel blew off Alaska Air flight

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/01/06/boeing-737-max-9-grounding-after-alaska-airlines-door-blows-midflight.html

I think he's saying that Alaska Airlines removed the plug to facilitate seat install / re-arrangement and then re-installed it wrong. (Not sure why you couldn't do this through the larger regular doors.)

My bet is that plug did not get removed by Alaska Airlines ever.

Yikes

It’s official now.

That would suck.

I've seen those green fuselages booking through Kansas on the choo-choo.

Also had a 727 L1 door try and take my leg off.

Attached File

The doors, plug or real, are installed at Spirit/Wichita prior to being shipped to Boeing Renton.

Or the seat lands - whichever comes first.

I'd crapped myself if i had been sitting there. Even one seat over.

Look for, ... the UN-ION label ... (if and when the door is found ...)

Boeing needs more gay black women DEI employees to fix this.

Put a chick in it, make her gay. Problem solved.