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The incident in which a panel on an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX tore off over the weekend has airlines looking into whether other aircraft might be at risk.
Experts are analyzing both plane and door plug now. New reporting suggests that manufacturing issues may be behind the dangerous situation.
Alaska Airlines cancelled 141 flights, or 20% of its scheduled departures, on Monday after grounding its 65 MAX 9s. The carrier said travel disruptions were expected to last through at least mid-week. United, which has grounded its 79 MAX 9s, cancelled 226 flights on Monday, or 8% of its scheduled departures.
Boeing 737 MAX planes' safety record isn't stellar. MAX 8 crashes killed 346 people in 2018-2019, and a manufacturing issue caused Friday's incident.
Alaska Airlines said initial reports from its technicians indicated some ‘loose hardware’ was visible on some aircraft in the relevant area when it conducted checks.