View attachment 312102​

Is that a Band-AidⓇ Brand adhesive bandage?

 

 

I cannot think of a better place to be stranded.

 

I cannot think of a better place to be stranded.

The poor people.

 

Heads need to roll over this from the top on down to line manufacturing. It's looking like this is not a one-off incident.
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/01/08/united-airlines-737-max-9-inspections-turn-up-loose-bolts.html

United Airlines said Monday that it has found loose bolts on door plugs of several Boeing 737 Max 9 planes during inspections spurred when a panel of that type blew out during an Alaska Airlines flight using that type of aircraft last week.

Alaska Airlines later Monday said its initial inspections of the jets had turned up “loose hardware” and that, “No aircraft will be returned to service” until formal reviews are complete.

But the accident places fresh scrutiny on Boeing, which has spent years trying to clean up a host of quality defects, while also ramping up aircraft production, including of the 737 Max. CEO Dave Calhoun has spent months trying to assure airlines, investors and financial analysts that the company is improving its supply chain and working to resolve its quality problems.

Calhoun canceled a company leadership summit this week and plans to hold an all-employee call on Tuesday.

https://theaircurrent.com/feed/disp...s-on-plug-doors-during-737-max-9-inspections/


Don't know how critical those are but it really looks bad.

 

 

Bob has his 15 min of fame.

 

Heads need to roll over this form the top on down to line manufacturing. It's looking like this is not a one-off incident.
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/01/08/united-airlines-737-max-9-inspections-turn-up-loose-bolts.html



https://theaircurrent.com/feed/disp...s-on-plug-doors-during-737-max-9-inspections/

View attachment 312177
Don't know how critical those are but it really looks bad.

Regardless of whether these bolts are related to this incident or not, some serious actions need to be taken. If they are finding these bolts loose on several aircraft, then how many other bolts are loose in other places that inspections never look? Unless they can track down the specific cause for these bolts on these aircraft being improperly installed (like the name of a common person that worked on that part of each of those aircraft), then I would think that there is reason to require that every connection on every aircraft be inspected before they be returned to flight - and, yes, that will cost millions, but so be it. At the very least, the inspector(s) that signed off on that assembly have some serious explaining to do.

 

FAA Grants STC for Wearable Head-up Display on 737NG

​

 

 

Excellent explanation of the door plug and what the loose bolts actually do.

The bolts in question are those shown in the screen cap below:

 

Excellent explanation of the door plug and what the loose bolts actually do.

The bolts in question are those shown in the screen cap below:
View attachment 312315

But those aren't the bolts that have been shown in various photos as being the loose bolts. The only ones (that I've seen) that are loose are the bolts that hold the hinge guide fitting to the door (near the bottom).

I'd be very surprised if the lock bolts were loose since they have a cotter pin through a castle nut.

 

they have a cotter pin through a castle nut.

Well they should have. The investigators will no doubt be looking into that.

 

..or installed at all. From paragraph 3:

The four bolts designed to keep the plug from moving off the stops were missing, they said, adding that they would work to determine whether the bolts had ever even been installed.

https://www.wsj.com/business/airlin...d-for-grounded-boeing-737-max-9-jets-c06c3234

 

..or installed at all. From paragraph 3:



https://www.wsj.com/business/airlin...d-for-grounded-boeing-737-max-9-jets-c06c3234

That shouldn't be hard to diagnose. An installation such as that would leave markings on the parts involved.

 

..or installed at all. From paragraph 3:



https://www.wsj.com/business/airlin...d-for-grounded-boeing-737-max-9-jets-c06c3234

I can't read the article, since I'm not a subscriber of the WSJ, but that would make a lot more sense. Is the article saying that they have found cases where those bolts were simply missing? I haven't seen that in any of the reporting I've seen, yet. I can actually see how that might happen -- those bolts are not installed in the slots of actual doors, so someone that had only installed actual doors might easily overlook them when installing a plug. But that would still be a pretty gross violation of procedures -- well, of the procedures I was exposed to in the military, which may be stricter. We had to have the TO (tech order) not only out, but open to the page of the procedure we were performing. This is not to say that you actually read it on a procedure that you were very familiar with, but it did encourage you to double check the details since doing so was so easy. It also doesn't say that even people that read it comprehended it, as a few glaring mishaps in my own shop attested to.

 

Is the article saying that they have found cases where those bolts were simply missing?

According to the article, the missing hardware was from the accident aircraft. Emergency inspections by United and Alaska have turned up several cases of loose hardware "instances that appear to relate to installation issues in the door plug - for example bolts that needed additional tightening."

It isn't clear from the description which 4 bolts they are talking about but the photo above the bolts (on a different airplane) that secure the hinge bracket to the frame are loose. It looks like they are through-bolts to be secured with a castellated nut and cotter pin on the other end. Too bad we don't have a picture of that...

Boeing has had its QC problems lately. The original 737 Max-8 MCAS investigation turned up many more problems in build quality besides the idiot software.

Maintenance can whiff, too. Some years ago after take off in a 757 I looked out the window to see the engine pylon cover sailing in the wind, held on by only the 2 forward screws. The other engine looked secure so I asked the flight attendant to be sure the Captain knew about it. The FO came back, took a look, gave ME a look and back to the airport we went. Deplaning, we caught some of the conversation the Captain was having with the maintenance guy. Apparently they were having some other problems as well and the language in use was *colorful*.

The 737 in this incident had 3 previous squawks regarding pressurization issues and had been banned from overseas flights to Hawaii as a result. In retrospect it would have been good if someone had thought of the door plug as a source of leakage. It seems like it was a progressive failure. Opportunities missed but I'll bet it gets on the checklists now.

The NTSB gives briefings on YouTube so I suppose we'll find out more as the investigation continues.

 

According to the article, the missing hardware was from the accident aircraft. Emergency inspections by United and Alaska have turned up several cases of loose hardware "instances that appear to relate to installation issues in the door plug - for example bolts that needed additional tightening."

It isn't clear from the description which 4 bolts they are talking about but the photo above the bolts (on a different airplane) that secure the hinge bracket to the frame are loose. It looks like they are through-bolts to be secured with a castellated nut and cotter pin on the other end. Too bad we don't have a picture of that...

Boeing has had its QC problems lately. The original 737 Max-8 MCAS investigation turned up many more problems in build quality besides the idiot software.

Maintenance can whiff, too. Some years ago after take off in a 757 I looked out the window to see the engine pylon cover sailing in the wind, held on by only the 2 forward screws. The other engine looked secure so I asked the flight attendant to be sure the Captain knew about it. The FO came back, took a look, gave ME a look and back to the airport we went. Deplaning, we caught some of the conversation the Captain was having with the maintenance guy. Apparently they were having some other problems as well and the language in use was *colorful*.

The 737 in this incident had 3 previous squawks regarding pressurization issues and had been banned from overseas flights to Hawaii as a result. In retrospect it would have been good if someone had thought of the door plug as a source of leakage. It seems like it was a progressive failure. Opportunities missed but I'll bet it gets on the checklists now.

The NTSB gives briefings on YouTube so I suppose we'll find out more as the investigation continues.

I wonder what that guy was thinking when he gave YOU a look ...

 

According to the article, the missing hardware was from the accident aircraft. Emergency inspections by United and Alaska have turned up several cases of loose hardware "instances that appear to relate to installation issues in the door plug - for example bolts that needed additional tightening."

It isn't clear from the description which 4 bolts they are talking about but the photo above the bolts (on a different airplane) that secure the hinge bracket to the frame are loose. It looks like they are through-bolts to be secured with a castellated nut and cotter pin on the other end. Too bad we don't have a picture of that...

I'm pretty sure that those bolts are holding the hinge to the plug. The door opens downward, hinging at the bottom. It slides up and down that post to unseat and reseat.

 

Spy ship?
https://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/threads/glad-im-not-a-passenger.105696/post-1874616