Alaska Airlines window blowout: One Boeing 737 Max aircraft found with loose hardware, says DGCA

The civil aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Tuesday said that one Indian B737Max aircraft was found with a loose hardware and an action for rectifying it is in process.

Aviation regulator DGCA on Tuesday said 40 Boeing 737 Max planes of domestic carriers have been inspected for possible loose hardware, and a washer was missing in one aircraft where rectification was done.

The move comes after a Boeing Co. 737 Max jet operated by Alaska Airlines made an emergency landing at Portland International Airport on Friday after a window and a portion of the plane’s fuselage blew out shortly after take-off. Following the incident, Alaska Airlines grounded all of its Boeing 737-9 aircraft.

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Akasa Air, Air India Express and SpiceJet together have 40 Boeing 737 Max planes in their fleets.

Boeing had recommended a one-time inspection of all Boeing 737 Max planes for possible loose hardware before January 10. The aircraft maker's move had come based on information from an operator of a missing nut and washer in the Aft Rudder Quadrant on the Boeing 737 Max plane.

This inspection was recommended before the Alaska Airlines incident and is not related to it.

A senior DGCA official on Tuesday said out of the 40 Boeing 737 Max planes of the three Indian carriers, inspections on 39 aircraft have been completed with nil findings, except on one aircraft wherein a missing washer was found.

"Rectification action as per recommendations of Boeing has been taken prior to the release of this aircraft. Inspection on the remaining one aircraft will be completed prior to release for service," the official said.