Logan Airport travelers could see impact from grounding of Boeing 737 Max 9 planes
BOSTON -- The Federal Aviation Administration is halting 171 planes across the country after a door plug blew off an Alaska Airlines flight at 16,000 feet. No one was hurt, but investigators are making sure it doesn't happen again.
"I saw [passenger video] on Twitter, and I was just like mind blown," said Fransisco Viana while sitting at baggage claim at Logan Airport. "It's so surreal, the idea that you have a flight and there goes the door clean off. I have seen movies, and action sequences, where people are flying out of the plane. You never think that's a possibility."
"I would probably start to saying a prayer to God," said Tom Gibbons after arriving at Logan. "I have been flying for years, but there is always anxiety, you never know what might happen."
The issue occurred on a Boeing 737 Max-9 plane. Aviation experts believe the investigation could take some time. The National Transportation Safety Board may be trying to figure out if this was one a one-off incident or a design flaw in the plane.
"For this to blow out, what they are going to be looking for is not just a structural failure in this plane. They will go back to the assembly line and see if it's a systemic problem with all of the 737's, and that will take some time," explained Peter Greenberg, Travel Editor for CBS News.
Thankfully, no one was sitting next to the door, and the plane was able to make a landing.
"At cruise altitude, we could have lost the aircraft," said Jennifer Homendy, NTSB Chair.
In the U.S., these types of planes are only used by United and Alaska Airlines. Massport says this particular plane is not heavily used at Logan Airport. Between United and Alaska Air, there are only five daily flights using this aircraft. There is also one flight to Iceland this month. While this may seem like Boston will see less of an impact, Greenberg suggests otherwise.
"It's not just your departing flight, maybe it's your connecting flight? You are going to see, until this is resolved, a lot of scheduling changes with United and Alaska. Other airlines are going to get full because people need to get where they need to go," said Greenberg, "171 planes taken out of service effects everybody."