The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced on Wednesday that it is initiating a formal investigation into the Boeing 737 MAX 9 after a cabin panel exploded during an Alaska Airlines flight last week, forcing an emergency landing.
Following the incident, the FAA grounded 171 Boeing jets equipped with the same panel, with the majority operated by U.S. airlines Alaska Airlines and United Airlines, pending safety inspections.
The FAA stated that the Alaska Airlines MAX 9 incident “should never have happened, and cannot happen again.” On Wednesday, the FAA informed Boeing of the investigation in a letter “to determine whether Boeing failed to ensure that completed products were in conformity with the approved design and were in safe operating condition in accordance with FAA regulations” after discovering “further discrepancies.”
Both Alaska and United Airlines announced on Monday that they found poorly assembled parts on multiple grounded planes during preliminary checks, raising new concerns about the production of Boeing’s best-selling jet family.
The carriers still await revised inspection and maintenance instructions from Boeing. These instructions must be approved by the FAA before the company can resume flying the aircraft.
On Tuesday, Boeing informed its staff that the findings were being treated as a “quality control issue,” and checks were underway at Boeing and supplier Spirit AeroSystems, according to Reuters.
Boeing’s production practices “must adhere to the high safety standards they are legally obligated to meet,” added the FAA.
On Wednesday, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg declined to specify when the FAA might allow the planes to resume flights but emphasized that it would only happen under safe conditions.
Stephen Anthony 
Emilio Morrison