Boeing, US-based plane-maker, has admitted to design flaws that led to a significant part of the fuselage detaching from a Boeing 737 Max-9 shortly after it took off last week.

During a meeting at Boeing’s 737 production facility near Seattle yesterday, Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun conveyed to the employees that their mistake would be acknowledged as the top priority. He further assured them of complete transparency throughout the process, leaving no room for doubt.

Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, which departed from Portland, Oregon and was en route to California, experienced a tire failure that resulted in a significant breach on its left side. Footage recorded by passengers captured the extent of the damage. Flight tracking data revealed that the aircraft had reached an altitude of 16,000ft (4876 meters) before initiating an emergency descent. Fortunately, there were no injuries among the 177 passengers and crew onboard, although some individuals did require medical assistance.

Following this nearly catastrophic event, many of Boeing’s prominent customers have voiced their concerns about the company’s persistent quality control issues.

In the meantime, the temporary grounding of 171 Boeing 737 Max 9 planes for inspection was mandated by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), while Jennifer Homendy, Chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, cautioned that the aircraft maker’s investigation may expand to encompass a more extensive examination of Boeing and its manufacturing methods.

Turkey’s flag carrier has declared a temporary suspension of five Turkish Airlines’ Boeing 737 Max 9 airplanes for a technical assessment. Additionally, Latin American carriers Copa Airlines and Aeromexico have decided to ground 40 aircraft.

Both the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the Civil Aviation Authority of Britain (CAA) have stated that none of the airlines operating within their jurisdictions currently have an aircraft operating in the affected configuration.

Alaska Air Group Inc. and United Airlines Holdings have found additional 737 Max 9 aircraft with bolts that were not properly fastened following the FAA’s directive to ground the planes.

According to Emirates’ Chief Executive Officer Tim Clark, Boeing has been facing persistent quality control issues, and the recent incident is yet another example of this ongoing problem.

Boeing Max 9, which was introduced in 2017, belongs to Boeing’s 737 series of airplanes. It is a twin-engine, single-aisle aircraft. Currently, there are around 1,300 planes of this model in operation.

Boeing 737 Max 9 has experienced a string of incidents over the past few years, resulting in 346 fatalities from two deadly crashes in Ethiopia (2019) and Indonesia (2018). As a result of these tragedies, the aircraft was grounded for a duration of 20 months starting in March 2019.