The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced on Wednesday a maintenance and inspection program that will allow the Boeing 737 MAX 9 grounded in the country after an incident in January to return to flight.
United Airlines, which has the largest fleet of this model (79 aircraft), also said it was preparing to return the aircraft to service starting Sunday.
On January 5, a door broke on an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 flying between Portland, Oregon, and Ontario, California.
Airlines have the option to close the door when there are enough emergency exits for the number of seats on the plane. This modification has been carried out on 171 of the 218 Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft delivered to date.
The FAA immediately grounded aircraft with this configuration until further notice.
“This incident cannot be repeated,” the regulator said in a statement, announcing “additional actions to ensure the safety of all aircraft.”
Only after the established plan has been completed “the plane will be able to return to service,” he said, without specifying the date.