The same Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 plane which suffered a mid-air window blow out and depressurization and was forced to make an emergency landing at Portland (PDX), has recently flown extensively between Hawaii and the mainland. At the time of the incident, however, the plane was climbing towards cruising altitude en route from Portland to Ontario.
What would have happened if this incident had occurred on a Hawaii flight? Read on for more on that.
The airline subsequently grounded its entire 65 plane fleet of the variant. CEO Ben Minucucci announced “Following tonight’s event on Flight 1282, we have decided to take the precautionary step of temporarily grounding our fleet of 65 Boeing 737-9 aircraft. Each aircraft will be returned to service only after completion of full maintenance and safety inspections. We anticipate all inspections will be completed in the next few days.”
Given these planes fly regularly to and from Hawaii, we’ll also be on the lookout for any impact the temporary grounding may have on these routes.
We tracked all the flights to and from Hawaii on this particular aircraft, which has a registration of N704AL.
The Boeing 737 MAX 9 plane was delivered new to Alaska in late October. On October 25, it received its FAA certificate of airworthiness. It began making regular passenger flights on the mainland in November. However, it didn’t start flying to and from Hawaii until late November, as seen below.
The list of recent flights to and from Hawaii on this plane is as follows:
- Los Angeles to Honolulu November 21
- Honolulu to Seattle November 21
- Seattle to Maui November 22
- Maui to Seattle November 22
- Kona to Seattle December 8
- Seattle to Kona December 8
- San Francisco to Honolulu December 11
- Honolulu to San Jose December 11
- San Jose to Kona December 12
- Kona to Seattle December 12
- Seattle to Kona December 13
- Kona to Seattle December 13
- Portland to Honolulu December 18
- Honolulu to Anchorage December 18
- Seattle to Honolulu December 19
- Honolulu to Seattle December 20
- San Diego to Honolulu December 23
- Honolulu to San Francisco December 23
- Portland to Honolulu December 24
- Honolulu to Anchorage December 24
- Anchorage to Honolulu December 26
- Honolulu to Seattle December 27
This plane made an emergency landing on Friday night when a portion of the aircraft, including a window and panel, blew out in flight, causing rapid depressurization. The affected area was an optional emergency exit that Boeing had converted to a window as a driver option. In images and videos, the impacted area resembled the entire emergency exit.
The plane lost pressurization, and the pilot reported, “We’re declaring an emergency.” The FAA said, “Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 returned safely to @flyPDX around 5 p.m. local time on Friday, Jan. 5, after the crew reported a pressurization issue. The aircraft was traveling to @flyONT in California. The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will investigate.”
The aircraft was climbing when the issue occurred.
An airliner can lose pressurization at any phase of a flight, be it climb, descent, or cruise. This can occur either if there is a failure of the pressurization system or due to any structural issues related to cabin pressure, such as appears to have been the case with the Alaska flight.
Airline flight crews are well-trained to handle these situations, and as passengers, we’re routinely informed about safety procedures, including the use of oxygen masks in the event of such a loss of cabin pressure. This incident certainly brings safety procedures home for us.
Fortunately, the plane landed safely, and kudos to Alaska Airlines and the crew on the flight. Alaska maintains the highest safety rating of any US airline, as we reported this week!
Additional concerns present on Hawaii flights with longest span of open ocean without diversion points.
Flights to Hawaii differ from mainland flights for this reason. They are some of the world’s longest overwater flights anywhere without a diversion point since Hawaii sits more than 2,500 miles from the nearest point of North America. Hawaii flights can be up to three hours from the nearest diversion airport. For these reasons, safety takes on an additional meaning.
The Alaska plane asked to descend to 10,000 feet due to the lack of pressurization. In the brief remaining flight time, that did not present an issue. But would the same have been true if the plane had been mid-way between the mainland and Hawaii? Aircraft use significantly more fuel when flying at lower altitudes.
FAA once said that it wouldn’t allow twin-engine aircraft to fly to Hawaii.
“It’ll be a cold day in hell before I let twins fly long-haul over-water routes.” That from the FAA Administrator in 1980 as Boeing sought to receive approval more than 40 years ago.
Since then, twin-engine flights have become the only option on US flights to Hawaii, both narrow-body and widebody.
Decades ago, three-engine jets such as the L-1011 and DC-10 tri-jets crossed the Pacific. But by 1990, the FAA approved the Boeing 767 and 777 twin-engine planes’ ability to fly to Hawaii. And the rest is history.
Aloha Airlines was the first to fly the Boeing 737 to Hawaii.
Still loved Aloha Airlines was the first airline to operate 737 flights to Hawaii back in 2000. With that permission, the entire Hawaii flight scene changed, and narrow-body planes, including Boeing 737 and Airbus A321, now dominate West Coast routes.
Does this incident change your feelings about flying Boeing 737 MAX to Hawaii?
Updated 1.6.23 7 am HST.
As a retired airline mechanic, that’s worked pressurization problems. According to write up if it was wrote up as squealing then as a mechanic you hold up boarding. Shut all doors presurize the airplane till you find the leak. And repair it. If the report not holding then do the same thing. Now if it showed a fault then you bite check the cabin pressure controllers and see what the fault was . And repair it if a no go are Mel it if it can go like it is . The Mel is approved by the faa and the manufacturer. There are 2 pressurization systems
Reports are now starting to surface of United finding 5 aircraft with loose bolts on the door plugs. It just seems that Boeing aircraft had far fewer problems when all aircraft were built in Boeing factories in Washington. Ever since they started parting out manufacturing to other companies, and opening the assembly plant in SC, there have been nothing but headaches and quality control issues.
Interesting report on BBC from NTSB that Alaska had restricted the routes for the Boeing plane involved after pressurization warnings in the days before the event.
Pilots had logged warning lights on three previous flights, said Jennifer Homendy of theUS National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). As a result, the airline prevented the jet from making long-haul flights over water, Ms Homendy said.
Good news for Hawaii travelers but should Alaska have continued to fly equipment with a recurrent warning of a potentially serious fault? I guess the NTSB will tell us all, so we wait to see.
FYI the 737 Max9 and the 737-900 both have the plugged exit. The -900 has flown for 20 years with many airlines without incident.
Flying to Hawaii in May. Big island
Getting concerned with flight delays and flights having so many turn around and emergency landings.
Canceled maui last year as our condo near fire area.
I have till March to cancel accommodation and not booked flight yet.
I’m pretty nervous about my upcoming flight but I don’t know for certain that is a 737 Max 9 because I cannot access my reservation on the website. If you look at future flights from LAX to OGG they all show American Airlines not Alaska on the Alaska website.
Hi Nancy, I believe the FAA is grounding all 737 Max 9s across all United States airlines following this incident. You should be fine. Enjoy Hawaii! Local businesses need some love in Hawaii.
I will definitely chose an isle seat if I fly. I was on a SD to Kona flight in December but not on that particular aircraft.
Had that incident occurred in the middle of a Hawaii route, is it conceivable that the plane could have descended to 10K and flown at that altitude all the way to the nearest airport? Do they carry enough fuel for that?
Yes they do…in fact it’s an FAA requirement that they carry enough fuel to fly at 10,000′ to the nearest suitable airport (with good enough weather to land) at any time during the flight based on winds that it will encounter on that particular day. That’s why on some flights with the older generation 737’s they bump passengers and/or cargo on days with strong headwinds. They need to carry enough fuel to conform to that requirement. It’s not something that be be scrimped on
Sure glad that did not happen on a trans-Pacific flight. The outcome would have been much different. Hawaii flights typically fly at between 34000-40000 feet. Pilots ascend quickly to the cruise attitude to save fuel. It would take a pilot about 10-15 minutes to descend to 10000 ft from 35000 and the aircraft would be in a dive on the way down.
Very unfortunate accident last night. I’ve flown in Boeings from 1960 on. There used to be a saying: “If it ain’t Boeing, I ain’t going”.
My spouse retired from Boeing about 6 years ago. The motto amongst the employees during his time was “we make them fly despite management”. Still, I’d prefer Boeing over Airbus.
I only guess, 10’000ft is still pretty high up and I am sure they carry enough fuel to get to the closest point, depending at what point they are when the emergency occurs. They may have to turn around or continue directly to the destination. It’s something that the engineers will figure out now. I still love those aircrafts. I think they are very comfortable and quiet compared to other models.
Their new motto is “Boeing: When one door closes, another opens”
Oh David!
Aloha.
Do you know what time the flight was from Sea to Kona on 12/13??