According to Homendy, the warning light illuminated on three different occasions - 7 December, 3 January and 4 January leading the airline to restrict it from operating flights to Hawaii or other long flights over water so the 737 MAX 9 “could return very quickly to an airport” if the warning light reappeared
Whilst it is unclear if the previous warnings were connected with the incident on Friday when a plug covering an unused emergency exit door blew off the plane as it flew over Oregon. The door plug is 26 by 48 inches and weighs 63 pounds / 28.5 kilograms. The NTSB confirmed the lost door plug had been found in the garden of a teacher from Portland and would soon be examined by investigators.
Homendy also said that the depressurization and rush of air damaged a number of seats, pulled insulation from the walls, and caused the cockpit door to flew open. She said the force of air also ripped the headset off the co-pilot and the captain lost part of her headset. A quick reference checklist flew out of the open cockpit. The cockpit doors are supposed to be incredibly strong and locked at all times during a flight following the 9/11 hijackings, so shouldn't have been able to be opened by the wind.
Aviation services provider AAR Corp confirmed that it had worked on the aircraft for Alaska Airlines, but had not worked on that area of the aircraft. "AAR was contracted by Alaska Airlines to perform a 2KU Modification (WiFi modification) on the aircraft that was performed from Nov. 27 to Dec. 7, 2023," AAR said in a statement on Monday.
Airlines have now been cleared to carry out urgent checks on the 171 Boeing 737 MAX 9 jets that are in service after Boeing issued detailed instructions on Monday, which were approved by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. These checks, rapidly introduced before the cause of the plug blowing out is known are said to take between 4 and 8 hours could be an indication of the pressure being brought by the manufacturer to stem the damage to the reputation of the MAX series of aircraft.
