Yep, the wifes FaceAche feed is blowing up with with people saying variations of “Did you hear about tthe door coming off the plane in Alaska, I don’t think I will ever fly on a 737 again”…
Good luck with that if you ever want to fly direct between Capital Cities in Australia ever again, but I think the point is that with the un and semi educated, 737 = Bad is a thing already.
Correct
Yeah, but 737s are about as ubiquitous as a Ford F150. And not many of the traveling public take the time to review the safety information card in the seatback in front of them, much less put down their phone when the F/A is giving the safety briefing. Now they are suddenly savvy enough to chose the equipment they’ll ride on the next trip? I don’t know. Seems like social banter, but perhaps they will chose their carrier based on aircraft.
It does seem like Boeing is determined to no longer be considered the gold standard. The, ah, door seems to be wide open for a competitor to take the top step.
EDIT: United is reporting that they’ve found loose bolts that hold the door plugs in the locking channels. So perhaps it is a fastener issue.
The way MEL works, is that there’s a Master Minimum Equipment List, from the aircraft manufacturer, which the pilots never see. Then there’s a Company MEL that is based on the MMEL, which can be more conservative than the MMEL.
If a fault is not in the MEL, it’s a no-go.
If the MMEL was consulted on this issue, the pilots had no say in the matter. In that case, maintenance closed the issue.
Now, I don’t know the 737 MEL and I don’t know what kind of gripe that was listed in the tech log, in this case. But it is entirely possible that the pressurization issue manifested itself in such a manner that it was deemed minor or maybe an issue with the cabin press. controller.
So, it’s hard to say what kind of info the PIC had about the issue.
The ONLY way that the Cabin Altitude Alert could have been dispatchable would be if the alert was not associated with an actual cabin altitude deviation. In that case, I would understand resetting and dispatching with the ETOPS limitation. But if the writeup included any mention of difficulty controlling cabin altitude then the merde will hit the fan by the truckload.
Also, IF the alert was really not associated with actual cabin rate issues, this would be one crazy coincidence.
Was it a Cabin Alt. Alert issue?
That should indeed be associated with a check of the actual cabin altitude and diff. pressure…
Maybe the door plug just leaked when the airframe was shaking along in flight, but kept it tight on ground, when testing the pressurization?
But…even if the crew knew about cabin pressurization issues, and if this was Checked OK by maintenance, I can’t fault them for not thinking the fuselage would burst open in flight.
I am not blaming the crew. A bad sensor causing an alert is a common problem. In some circumstances dispatching with it under limited circumstances is acceptable and common. But when an alert is associated with related observations, it ceases being a sensor problem and becomes a major mechanical fault. Alaska Airlines is a very well-run airline. So I don’t really think this happened. It’s actually nearly impossible to think that this is what they did. I am inclined to think (hope) that the two (cabin altitude alert history and faulty door plug installation) are unrelated. This would be the coincidence of a lifetime however.
I no longer have access to my airline’s 737 MEL. But the 767 pressurization system is similar. The Cabin Altitude Warning system is only dispatchable INOP if the flight remains below 10k. For us, an Alert, Caution or Warning that repeats is by definition indicative of an inoperative system.
It could be that the media is misreporting the warning. What they are calling the Cabin Altitude Warning (VERY serious) could be the Auto Fail Warning (much less serious and rather common). But this warning isn’t dispatchable either and requires a bit of effort by the crew to determine whether or not the cabin is controllable.
Me neither, but there really isn’t enough info available to blame anyone at the moment 
It also depends on how often this fault has occured, and what’s been done to remedy it…
I know that we are discussing plugs vs doors here, but in 10 years of operating the things, IME the door status lights on commercial aircraft are not infallible, at least in old school B727, and B757 for that matter. They get abused for a large part by food caterers, and to a lesser extent by rushed and inexperienced gate agents. At some stations the cleaning crews use them too. With that and the normal pressure cycling, the doors, hinges, locking mechanisms, and escape slide attachment points have to be excessively robust.
But I’ve seen one improperly closed and left slightly cocked by a food caterer, but with enough gap to allow plenty of air and sunlight for the duration of a SJU-JFK leg that extinguished the cockpit light. FWIW.
I’ve seen that too. Often a seal gets twisted and creates a loud whine. Pressurization isn’t compromised but it is annoying.
The 737 “Delorian”-type exit is odd. Instead of being like an entry door where the lip on the cabin side is larger than the lip on the exterior side (where pressure CLOSES the door), the swing-open emergency exit is the opposite, ie pressure OPENS the door. When I first learned of this system with the 737NG 25 years ago, I thought it was nuts! But in 18000 hours of flying the 737 I never once had an issue with the door. The design makes it a very fast and easy exit.
IIRC we had this plug on the 737-900ER as well because we didn’t sardine enough passengers to justify the extra doors. We never ever had a problem with the plugs. My speculation? Somebody on the assembly line screwed up and QC failed to see the missing or loose fasteners.
If any of the four bolts were present, loose or otherwise, the plug could not have shifted upward to open. I strongly suspect based on the IPC posted on another site, and the photos of the opening post-incident, that no bolts were present on the flight when the plug departed. Whether it left the factory with missing or loose (not castle nut and pinned) bolts is now a major question for Boeing/Spirit Aerospace/Alaska.
The design looks well thought-out to me, and the plug should be trouble-free if assembled/installed correctly. Unfortunately based on Boeing’s track record with the KC-46, it’s apparent that they’re forgotten how to assemble aircraft with the level of diligence required.
SEATAC, WA — Alaska Airlines has launched a special new “scenic view” seat upgrade where the entire side of the cabin next to your seat is blown out into the sky and you are assaulted with a dramatic atmospheric change that upsets the pressure in the cabin. The luxury experience can be yours for a small $30.00 fee.
“People hate flying and I want to change that,” said Alaska Airlines CEO David Grumble. “For a nominal fee, we can blow off part of the plane and give you the ride of your life. Our new ‘scenic view’ seat upgrade provides a full 180° view of the earth as you hurl past it at 600mph while 40,000 feet in the sky.”
Ok, ok. It’s the Bablyon Bee.
Perfectly stated.
Juan Brown thoroughly discusses the latest NTSB briefing concerning this incident.
Not really aimed at us, more at the general public, but I still found this an interesting take:
EDIT: And I think it’s definitely worth a conversation over how this is being reported. I’ve seen a few dreadful clips from CNN and Fox News that over-sensationalise and miss the point simultaneously. Amazing! 
That’s because big corporate news has one objective only–to get you to watch/click more to drive ad revenue.
In the words of MU/TH/UR, “all other considerations secondary. Truth expendable.”
Honestly, he hasn’t said anything that hasn’t been reported already in the NYTimes and news sources I depend on (never cable or video). Nothing new at all. My union reported that Boeing is telling operators that the cockpit door operated correctly. The blowout panels worked and the door also opened as designed. That seems weird to me, especially given the very low differential that the plane was fortunately at when the plug gave way.
Boeing screwed up. If it was Spirit, that’s still Boeing and later inspected by Boeing, so Boeing still screwed up. Much more interesting to me is the Cabin Altitude Warning that the plane had repeatedly given on the days preceding the blowout.
