Loose Parts Found on Boeing 737 MAX 9 Jets

Boeing shares experienced a decline of 0.7% to $227.50 in premarket trading on Tuesday after Alaska Air and United Airlines reported discovering loose parts on the 737 MAX 9 jets that they inspected. This news comes after Spirit AeroSystems, a supplier of fuselages to Boeing, saw a decline of 11% on Monday but managed to recover slightly with a rise of 0.2%.

Alaska Air witnessed a 1% decrease in share prices, while United Airlines faced a loss of 0.6%.

Last Friday, an Alaskan Airlines flight encountered a significant incident where a part of the aircraft's body flew off just ten minutes after takeoff, resulting in a hole the size of an exit door on the side of the plane. Luckily, the pilot successfully made an emergency landing, and there were no injuries.

Following an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), it was confirmed that the part detached at an altitude of approximately 16,000 feet after becoming loose from a set of stops designed to secure a door plug in place. It was discovered that the necessary bolts were missing, although the exact cause of the part moving out of position remains unknown.

In a separate development, Ryanair's CEO, Michael O'Leary, expressed his opinion that Boeing should strengthen their quality control measures. He stated that his airline would be impacted in terms of traffic and profit due to this incident in an interview with the Financial Times.

Additionally, United Airlines disclosed on Monday that they had identified four instances in which bolts on door plugs of other planes showed signs of installation issues, such as requiring additional tightening. Similarly, Alaska Airlines also reported cases of loose parts on other aircraft as observed by their technicians.

As a result of these incidents, the Federal Aviation Administration temporarily grounded all 737 MAX planes over the weekend.