Take the aisle seat

The story of last night's blowout of a portion of the fuselage of an Alaska Airlines 737-9 MAX jet, less than two months old, is truly hair-raising. The traumatizing incident happened on a flight from Portland to Ontario, California. Fortunately no one was killed. Fortunately the plane was only at 16,000 feet when the blowout happened. Fortunately no one was in the window seat where the panel fell off. There were two people in the middle and aisle seats, though. They are lucky to be alive.

Today many, if not all, of the 737-9 MAXes in operation all over the globe have been grounded so that they can be inspected. But given the litany of quality control problems with that particular model of jet, it's hard to tell what the heck they are looking for. In the last few months, we've read that:

Boeing’s deliveries are currently affected by a 737 MAX production issue discovered in late August. The issue concerns improperly drilled fastener holes in the aft pressure bulkhead on the fuselages of some 737 MAX models....

Last year, the FAA told pilots to limit use of an anti-ice system on the Max in dry conditions because of concern that inlets around the engines could overheat and break away, possibly striking the plane....

Boeing is asking airlines to inspect its 737 Max jets for a potential loose bolt in the rudder control system, the airplane maker and Federal Aviation Administration confirmed this week.

The FAA said it would be “closely monitoring” the targeted inspections. The agency said Thursday that Boeing issued its inspection guidance to airlines after an international operator found a bolt with a missing nut during routine maintenance. In a separate case, Boeing also discovered an undelivered aircraft that had a nut that was not properly tightened.

And of course, hundreds of passengers and crew have died on the MAX because of its Rube Goldberg stabilization system, made necessary by the unfortunate placement of the engines. Two horrifying fatal accidents kept that model out of the skies for years. 

But these later groundings tend to be brief. Already Alaska is telling passengers that they've checked many of the other MAXes, and everything's fine.

As of Saturday morning, more than a quarter of inspections on the Alaska Airlines' Boeing 737 MAX 9 fleet are complete with "no concerning findings," the carrier said.

Alaska said planes will continue to return to service as inspections are completed....

The damage that led to the emergency landing appeared to be in the location of a "plug," said John J. Nance, an ABC News aviation analyst. Those are spots in the fuselage shaped similar to a door that aren't designed to open, even when the aircraft is on the ground. They could be converted to doors if the airline needs an extra boarding door. 

In the old days, when Boeing was effectively being run by engineers and pilots, a plane like the MAX never would have been sold. But now, like so many multinational corporations, Boeing's being run by accountants. That's when the walls start blowing off.

If you fly Alaska Airlines in or out of Portland, you probably can't avoid the 737 MAX. I've been on them more than a handful of times in the last couple of years. I'd rather not do it again any time soon, but sometimes there's no choice. Your life is in the hands of the suits at Boeing and the suits at Alaska Air, and neither group seems to have its act together. Just ask the people trying to get to Ontario last night.