Boeing: A look at recent incidents involving planes that they made

PHOENIX - Boeing, along with planes made by the aircraft manufacturer, have been at the center of media attention in recent months as a result of a number of incidents, at least one of which is now the subject of an investigation.

Here's what to know about the incident, and what the company is doing about them.

What happened?

January 5

An Alaska Airline Boeing 737 MAX 9 had to make an emergency landing in Portland, Oregon because a piece of the fuselage blew out of the plane.

January 14

An ANA (All Nippon Airways) Boeing 737-800 plane had to turn around and land in Japan after a crack was found on the cockpit window midair.

February 21

According to our sister station KTVU in San Francisco, a United Airlines Boeing 757-200 had to land in Denver due to wing damage. Boeing officials said the plane landed to "address an issue with the slat" on one of its wings.

March 7

A United Airlines Boeing 777-200 plane on a flight from San Francisco to Osaka, Japan had to make an emergency landing in Los Angeles after a tire fell off the plane following takeoff. The incident was captured on video, and the loose tire damaged vehicles in a parking lot.

On the same day, the AP reported that federal investigators have confirmed pilots’ account of a brief failure of rudder controls on a Boeing 737 Max after it landed at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey on Feb. 6.

March 8

A United Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 plane went off the taxiway at the airport in Houston. No injuries were reported.

March 11

50 people were hurt onboard a LATAM Airlines Boeing 787-9 plane due to what was initially described as "strong movement" as the plane was flying from Australia to New Zealand.

March 12

A United Airlines Boeing 777 aircraft that was headed to San Francisco had to return to Sydney, Australia due to an "undisclosed maintenance issue."

March 15

A United Airlines Boeing 737 plane landed in Medford, Oregon where it was discovered that a panel from the plane was missing. The panel is believed to have fallen off the plane mid-flight.

March 18

An Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 landed and cracked its windshield in Portland, Oregon.

Why all the attention on Boeing and their planes?

The incident involving the Alaska Airlines plane happened about five years after two Boeing 737 MAX airliners crashed, killing 346 people in total. The crash led to the grounding of all 737 MAX jets for nearly two years.

The plane model, according to the AP, was cleared for flight by the Federal Aviation Administration in November 2020.

The two crashes, along with the COVID-19 Pandemic, resulted in more than 1,000 MAX jet orders being canceled or removed from Boeing's backlog.

Who's responsible for these incidents?

In the case of the Alaska Airlines flight in January, The National Transportation Safety Board has released a preliminary report into the incident. The report, according to the AP, noted that bolts were missing from the panel, which is known as a door plug.

The bolts were meant to secure the panel to the plane's frame, and the report noted that three of the four bolts that prevent the panel from moving upward are missing. The location of a fourth bolt is obscured by insulation.

An investigative hearing into the incident involving the Alaska Airlines flight is scheduled for Aug. 6 and 7, according to a statement the agency released on March 12. The Department of Justice has also opened a criminal investigation into the matter.

At least one of the incidents happened due to factors unrelated to Boeing.

In the case of the March 11 incident, officials have since said that the incident likely happened due to a cockpit accident, with a report stating that a flight attendant hit a switch on the pilot's seat while serving a meal, thus activating a motorized feature that pushed the pilot into the controls, and sent the plane into a nosedive. The switch has a cover and is not supposed to be used when a pilot is in the seat.

Per the AP, Boeing has told airlines to check the switches on pilot seats the next time maintenance is performed.

For other incidents, FAA officials say, on their website, that they are investigating.

What are Boeing officials doing?

In late January, Boeing officials withdrew a safety exemption request that was made in late 2023. The company had asked regulators to allow it to begin delivering its 737 MAX 7 airliner to customers, even though the plane does not meet a safety standard designed to prevent part of the engine housing from overheating and breaking off during flight.

Earlier in January, the FAA ordered the immediate grounding of all Boeing 737 MAX 9 airliners. The planes were placed back in service later on that same month. The FAA has also told Boeing that they will not grant any production expansion of the MAX planes.

A month later, in late February, Boeing replaced the head of its 737 MAX program at the company's factory in the Seattle area.

In March, Boeing officials said they would work with employees who violated company manufacturing procedures to ensure they understand instructions for their jobs, after a U.S. government audit found that Boeing failed 33 of 89 reviewed aspects of production at their Seattle area plant.

That same month, Boeing announced they were in preliminary talks to buy Spirit AeroSystems, which fuselages for Boeing 737 Max jetliners, including the one that suffered a door-panel blowout.

Is flying safe?

According to data provided by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), 2023 was a very safe year for air travel.

In their report, the aviation organization stated that in 2023, there were no fatal accidents or hull losses for jet aircraft. There were, however, 30 accidents that year, marking an improvement from the 42 accidents that happened in 2022.