It should surprise no one that cramming too many people in a plane causes safety problems that get ignored in the name of profits. It's like the Titanic sinking without enough life boats which finally caused a change in maritime laws.
Like in ships, the more hull penetrations the more weak points you create.
With a plug door as you surmise, it creates yet another emergency exit.
But then it’s another hull penetration that needs to be paid attention to during maintenance cycles.
More complexity, longer maintenance cycle to compensate, the more incentive to cut corners on inspecting certain things.
Like plug doors that don’t normally open.
Because why would anything be loose or damaged when it doesn’t get opened?
Not saying this is what happened, but it’s a possibility or possible contributing factor.
Depends on the maintenance logs and inspection reports.
The design was to have an emergency exit door there, which means one fewer row of seats. By replacing the door with a window panel, you get another row of seats.
But they installed the panel wrong.
Boeing quality is going down.
Exploratory sub.
I read the title and just laughed. If it’s linked, it’s a long chain to follow.
All I can say is, look for a new Apple iPhone ad very soon.
Blame the victims...
“Gaping Hole in Boeing 737 Linked to Stuffing More Passengers Into Flights”
Almost became a way to ‘unstuff’ passengers.
Click=bait.
unless you can afford first class or get your business to pay for it, flying for the other passengers is almost horrible.....seats stuffed close together, poor service, waiting in lines, inflated prices....a lousy pack of pretzels that cost about a dime.....its a unpleasant experience..
Did you catch the last paragraph? Max 9 pilots were instructed not to fly over water. What does that mean?
in other words, the Kolachi had a blowout!
There is so much wrong in this article I don’t know where to start.
Most importantly , it is a door plug not a plug door. It’s an option to exclude an exit which reduces maximum capacity.
It is only available on the B737- Max-9.
EC
Mr. GG2 used to work on the line for Boeing. He said those doors have to be installed by certified door mechanics who then put their mark on the paperwork then the QA engineer inspects the plug and puts his mark on it. Its called witness paint. Looking at a picture of the thing Mr. GG2 said there was no witness paint so likely they just let A regular line mechanic install the door. The door installation is highly specialized.