QCOSTARICA — The order from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), to ground a group of Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft to undergo an inspection, forced adjustments to be made on at least 16 flights in Costa Rica.
These changes were confirmed by the managers of the Juan Santamaría (San José) International Airport and the Guanacaste Airport (LIR) in Liberia.
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Specific information about the adjustments was not provided.
The airworthiness of the Boeing 737 Max 9 came in to question when United Airlines and Alaska Airlines found loose hardware during inspections, leading the FAA on Saturday, January 6, grounding dozens of 737 Max 9s after a panel blew out midflight on Alaska Flight 1282.
United Airlines said Monday, January 9, that it has found loose bolts on door plugs of several Boeing 737 Max 9 planes during inspections spurred when a panel of that type blew out during an Alaska Airlines
Alaska Airlines later Monday said its initial inspections of the jets had turned up “loose hardware” and that, “No aircraft will be returned to service” until formal reviews are complete.
Both United Airlines and Alaska Airlines have flights to and from Costa Rica.
The 737 Max is Boeing’s best-selling aircraft. Boeing said earlier Monday it issued instructions to airlines to conduct the inspections of the Max 9s in their fleets.
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Costa Rica without Boeing
The Dirección General de Aviación Civil (DGAC) – Costa Rica’s General Directorate of Civil Aviation – on the other hand, confirmed that no Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft has been immobilized in the country.
This, broadly speaking, because in the country there is not a single aircraft of this type with a national registration.
“The order to ground aircraft of this type corresponds only to the country of registration. This means that, in the hypothetical case that Costa Rica had a Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft, (this would be registered) with registration TI , Tango-India, and at the moment we as a country do not have an aircraft of this type with this registration.
“Therefore, we do not have first-hand the power to have any aircraft on the ground. That corresponds to the countries that have acquired this type of aircraft and have given them registration from their own country,” explained DGAC’s deputy director general, Luis Miranda.
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The official highlighted that the airlines that operate in Costa Rica “have taken the necessary precautions”, a fact that mitigated any “real or tangible impact” as a result of the FAA order.
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