The other article today about Boeing trying to exempt themselves from safety regulations for the 737 MAX is pretty timely.<p><a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38882358">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38882358</a>
Lost a window <i>and an unoccupied seat</i> per <a href="https://old.reddit.com/r/aviation/comments/18znz5p/as_1282_kpdx_to_kont_diverted_for_rapid/" rel="nofollow">https://old.reddit.com/r/aviation/comments/18znz5p/as_1282_k...</a><p>> According to FAA record posted online, the Boeing 737-9 MAX rolled off the assembly line just two months ago, receiving its certification in November 2023.<p>Related: <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38882358">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38882358</a> (“HN: Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get it in the air“)
Tiktok video of the event posted to twitter.<p><a href="https://twitter.com/avgeekjake/status/1743474494411608489?s=20" rel="nofollow">https://twitter.com/avgeekjake/status/1743474494411608489?s=...</a>
For the past two months, I have been avoiding 4 737max flights already. This is to the extent that one of them was to transit for 10 hours (without max), compared to a 2-hour convenient layover with 737max. I guess this will stay as my personal rule of thumb for the foreseeable future.
Video of open hole mid flight on TikTok:<p><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@strawberr.vy/video/7320798084869393710?_t=8inX18wC2Cw&_r=1" rel="nofollow">https://www.tiktok.com/@strawberr.vy/video/73207980848693937...</a>
Hearing stories like this over the years is why I always wear the seatbelt during the entirety of any flight... Just one of those small things that could make all the difference in a sudden emergency situation.
How to find a flight Without a 737-Max<p><a href="https://www.alternativeairlines.com/airlines-not-flying-boeing-737-max" rel="nofollow">https://www.alternativeairlines.com/airlines-not-flying-boei...</a>
Did they shoot a movie with the plane before take off?<p><a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/11/10/1212144515/plane-missing-window-london-us" rel="nofollow">https://www.npr.org/2023/11/10/1212144515/plane-missing-wind...</a>
Credit where credit is due. This plane obvisouly suffered a massive rapid decompression. But it didn't crash. All the other engineering and safety systems functioned to absorb and mitigate this damage, getting everyone back on the ground safely. That is saying something.<p>Airliners have survived much much worse:<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aloha_Airlines_Flight_243" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aloha_Airlines_Flight_243</a>
Better link: <a href="https://old.reddit.com/r/aviation/comments/18znz5p/as_1282_kpdx_to_kont_diverted_for_rapid/" rel="nofollow">https://old.reddit.com/r/aviation/comments/18znz5p/as_1282_k...</a><p>(The tweet is just referencing this and a flighradar track, poorly.)
I can only assume that this is going to lead to a ton of noise and anger with very little change, unfortunately.<p>Boeing will investigate, regulators will rattle sabers, and the public will be very loud about this for a week until the next news cycle rolls around.<p>We prioritize convenience above all else. The easy answer here is people could just not fly if we're actually concerned with Boeing or the industry in general.<p>We don't have to fly, but it is convenient so we'd rather make a lot of noise about the headline without making any meaningful change. It sounds nice to expect the FAA or Boeing or whoever else to fix this, why do we so often skip the actual power we have by simply not spending our money there?
Boeing is playing off its role as being so vital to national security that the government will keep it from suffering too much loss.<p>Fair enough.<p>However, if that is the case, then the bean counting management is guilty of sabotaging US national security by running Boeing into the ground for short term profits.<p>The entire C-Suite of Boeing should be sentenced to multi-decade prison terms at IDF SuperMax for their selling out US National security for profit.
The Air Current reports [1] that the same aircraft experienced pressurization warnings on two flights the prior day.<p>[1] <a href="https://theaircurrent.com/feed/dispatches/alaska-737-max-9-that-lost-deactivated-exit-had-recent-pressurization-issues/" rel="nofollow">https://theaircurrent.com/feed/dispatches/alaska-737-max-9-t...</a>
<a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38882358">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38882358</a><p>From today on HN.
Is it the same plane as the one with software that was outsourced to $9/hour engineers that had no experience with aeronautics? <a href="https://www.industryweek.com/supply-chain/article/22027840/boeings-737-max-software-outsourced-to-9anhour-engineers" rel="nofollow">https://www.industryweek.com/supply-chain/article/22027840/b...</a>
What strikes me with the ATC recording is that I can barely hear what they say (and that's the case with almost every ATC recording I heard before). And that's without being in a noisy environment (plane in flight). Is the quality really that bad? Doesn't that cause miscommunications? It seems like a fairly fixable problem in 2024.
Do you think there will be any accountability from Boeing executives? Boeing hasn't had a lot of good press in the last few years, will leadership ever be held accountable?<p>There was a time when Boeing was considered a very trustworthy and reliable company, is this the result of a decline in an engineering-focused culture?<p>Edit: Many of the comments in this thread mention that they avoid the 737 MAX whenever possible. Maybe if enough people start to boycott these unsafe airplanes that would result in more economic pressure and lead to improvements?
This might be the one.<p>Doesn't matter what turns out to be root cause here. The Max might finally get the critical mass of brand damage here. Especially if Daily Mail et al are reporting it in the headlines.<p>Boeing might be properly held accountable* for their previous mistake, now.
IMO the previous outcome did not seem fair to 'consumers' / victims, and did not seem to be an appropriate deterrent / incentive for future QC/QA improvements.<p>*The company - I don't hold hope for holding execs accountable.
> Alaska flight 1282 left Portland just after 5pm local time on Friday when an emergency door blew out at 16,000 feet.<p>If this happened at cruising altitude with a higher pressure differential, would the plane survive? (I know generally the door won't open at that altitude since they open inward, but I assume the same forces wouldn't do anything to prevent a window blowout)
There's a write up on Wikipedia: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska_Airlines_Flight_1282" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska_Airlines_Flight_1282</a>
Can't help but remember a recent discussion about Russian planes and how it all sucks "because alcoholism".<p>Wonder if those full-of-themselves people will blame fentanyl and weed here, hehehehe. Feels kind of karmic.
I always wonder if passengers are compensated for like.. the trauma? The videos going around on Twitter show the oxygen masks dropped and people chatting in their seats about thinking they were going to die. Seems like a fine line between manufacturing "shortcuts" and criminal negligence.
Last month, I consciously chose a flight from the same airline that used an Airbus plane over a Boeing plane.<p>I wonder if airlines have data showing that their Airbus flights are more popular than Boeing flights after adjusting differences.
I really want badly to boycott Boeing.<p>It's seems impossible that on some routes we do not have alternative to Boeing planes. Consumers should be allowed to decide with their wallet. Isn't that the whole purpose of the Capitalist system?!
> The Boeing 737-9 MAX rolled off the assembly line just two months ago, receiving its certification in November 2023, according to FAA record posted online.<p>It’s 2 months old, so poor maintenance, wear and tear, etc are not even minor factors.<p>This is just a poorly made plane with awful quality control.<p>And that’s even before we get into some of the design issues, both the shortcuts they’ve taken and ones that are more fundamental.
"So Alaska airlines don't want that extra emergency door"<p>Boeing - "Hold my beer, I think I have some duct tape around here somewhere"
These guys gotta get away from windows. The procedure of opening and closing your windows is just not a good idea at altitude.<p>Switch to Linux today :)