The Federal Aviation Administration released final instructions to airlines to begin conducting inspections of their 737 Max 9 planes Wednesday a move that will eventually allow them to fly again.
The agency had grounded nearly 200 of the planes after an Alaska Airlines flight lost one of its door plugs mid-flight earlier this month.
Alaska Airlines released a statement Wednesday evening confirming its plans return some of its 737 MAX aircraft back to the skies on Friday following thorough inspection. “The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Wednesday, Jan. 24, approved a thorough inspection and maintenance process for the 737-9 MAX aircraft. Alaska Airlines is ready to perform these detailed inspections of our planes,” the statement read.
“Each of our aircraft will only return to service once the rigorous inspections are completed and each aircraft is deemed airworthy according to the FAA requirements. We have 65 737-9 MAX in our fleet. The inspections are expected to take up to 12 hours for each plane.”
The statement continued, confirming Jan. 26 would be the date that select aircraft would return to operation. “Following these inspections by our skilled Alaska Maintenance technicians, we expect to bring our first few planes back into scheduled commercial service on Friday, Jan. 26.”
The FAA approved a set of specific actions to address issues with door plug fasteners on the aircraft, based on data from 40 inspections of grounded planes. The maintenance process, cleared by a Corrective Action Review Board, requires airlines to inspect specific bolts, guide tracks and fittings, visually inspect left and right mid-cabin exit door plugs and components, retorque fasteners and correct any damage found during the inspection.
Alaska Airlines published an update stating that it planned to resume 737-9 MAX flights on Friday, January 26 with the first aircraft to complete the new FAA inspection and maintenance process.
