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There is no peace for the Boeing 737 Max. After the accident – fortunately without victims – which occurred on an Alaska Airlines last week, less than encouraging news arrives also from United. United Airlines and Alaska Airlines found loose parts on some grounded 737 Max planes and threatened to widen the Seattle company’s problems.
United said Monday that inspections of its 737 Max 9s, a variant of the single-aisle jet that holds more seats than the more popular Max 8, “have found instances that appear to involve installation issues in the door plug, such as for example, bolts that needed further tightening.” The airline said its technical operations team would resolve the issue “to return the aircraft to service safely.”
The news of United’s discovery, reported for the first time by the trade magazine The Air Current, further affected the shares of Boeing, whose shares closed Monday down 8% at $229, while the shares of Spirit AeroSystems, its main supplier, lost 11% to close at $28.20.
Late Monday evening, Alaska Airlines also made itself heard: «Initial reports from our technicians indicate that loose hardware was visible on some aircraft.'” The airline said it was awaiting final documentation from Boeing and of the United States Federal Aviation Administration to begin formal inspections.