The General Civil Aviation Authority has said that no UAE airline operating the Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft has been affected by a technical malfunction of one of the jets in the US on Friday.
US officials ordered the immediate grounding of some Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft after an Alaska Airlines plane was forced to make an emergency landing when a window panel blew out after take-off, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the fuselage.
“None of the national airlines in the UAE are operating any of the Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft, affected by the technical malfunction,” the civil aviation body said on Sunday, Wam reported.
Dubai’s low-cost airline, flydubai, a major operator of the 737 Max aircraft, said its three 737 9 Max jets are unaffected by the directive issued by the US Federal Aviation Administration.
“Flydubai operates Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft with a deactivated mid-aft exit door configuration which is not referenced in the directive,” a flydubai representative told media.
The Emergency Airworthiness Directive issued by the US regulatory body requires operators to inspect affected aircraft before further flight.
“The required inspections will take around four to eight hours per aircraft,” the FAA said on Friday.
On Saturday, the FAA ordered the temporary grounding of 171 Boeing jets installed with the same panel.
“They will remain grounded until the FAA is satisfied that they are safe,” the body said.
“Safety will continue to drive our decision-making as we assist the NTSB’s [National Transportation Safety Board] investigation into Alaska Airlines Flight 1282,” FAA administrator Mike Whitaker said.
Customers for Boeing’s 737 Max model include flydubai, Southwest, United, American Airlines, Ryanair, Air Canada, Turkish Airlines and some Chinese airlines.
Regulators around the world say they are “closely monitoring” the situation.
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