flydubai Responds to Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 Incident

flydubai has answered a media request from AviationSource regarding the Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 incident overnight.

AS1282 returned to Portland not long after departure following one of the doors on the aircraft separating from the fuselage at around 18,000 feet.

flydubai is also an operator of the 737 MAX 9 as well.

flydubai Responds to Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 Incident…

A spokesperson for flydubai said the following on the Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 incident last night in Portland:

“We are aware of the latest reports. The three Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft in our fleet, which have completed their C-checks in the last 24 months, have a different configuration with mid-aft cabin exits.”

“We will follow any guidance issued by Boeing once more information is available including carrying any further inspections if required.”

AviationSource has also got in touch with the other operators of the Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft for comment on the incident. The current commercial operators are as follows, as per data from Planespotters.net.:

Alaska Airlines
Aeromexico
Air Tanzania
Copa Airlines
Corendon Dutch Airlines
flydubai
Icelandair
Lion Air
SCAT Airlines
Turkish Airlines
United Airlines

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Recap of the Incident…

Alaska Airlines flight AS1282 is a routine scheduled flight between Portland and Ontario, with the affected rotation being operated by N704AL.

As per data from Planespotters.net, N704AL is a 0.2 year old Boeing 737 MAX 9 which was delivered brand new to the carrier back in October 2023.

Of the MAX 9 variant, the U.S carrier has 65 units in the fleet, with all of them being grounded following the overnight incident, hosting an average fleet age of 1.8 years.

Alaska Airlines flight AS1282 departed Portland at 1706 local time last night, inbound for Ontario.

Moments after departure, one of the exit doors towards the rear of the aircraft separated from the fuselage, causing a massive depressurisation event.

AS1282 was able to land safely after this happened, and the aircraft was subsequently grounded due to this.

Following this incident, Alaska Airlines released a statement saying that all 65 737 MAX 9 aircraft have been temporarily grounded:

Ben Minicucci, the CEO of the airline said the following on this:

“At Alaska Airlines, safety is our foundational value and the most important thing we focus on every day.”

“Following tonight’s event on Flight 1282, we have decided to take the precautionary step of temporarily grounding our fleet of 65 Boeing 737 MAX 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.”

“I am personally committed to doing everything we can to conduct this review in a timely and transparent way”.

“We are working with Boeing and regulators to understand what occurred tonight, and will share updates as more information is available”.

“The NTSB is investigating this event and we will fully support their investigation”.

“My heart goes out to those who were on this flight – I am so sorry for what you experienced. I am so grateful for the response of our pilots and flight attendants”.

“We have teams on the ground in Portland assisting passengers and are working to support guests who are traveling in the days ahead”.