United Airlines finds loose bolts on Boeing 737 Max 9s

United Airlines on Monday announced it had discovered loose bolts on some of its 737 Max 9s while inspecting its fleet in the wake of an Alaska Airlines flight that suffered decompression.

"Since we began preliminary inspections on Saturday, we have found instances that appear to relate to installation issues in the door plug –- for example, bolts that needed additional tightening," the airline stated, according to CNN.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered the grounding of some Boeing 737 Max 9s in the wake of the incident and mandating their inspections. United discovered the loose bolts in the course of those inspections.

Video footage of the Alaska Airlines depressurization incident showed a panel and window missing from the fuselage, though there were no reported injuries. 

A Portland, Ore., schoolteacher on Monday found the missing fuselage door plug in his yard, CNN noted. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chairman Jennifer Homendy told CNN that "[o]ur focus right now is on this aircraft to determine what happened, how it happened and to prevent it from happening again."

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.