Coverage spread: 2 sources — 2 left
Lean ratings via AllSides / Media Bias-Fact-Check. How this works.
Where they agree
- The FAA issued an airworthiness directive Thursday requiring fuselage inspections on 737 Max jets, affecting roughly 471 US-registered planes.
- The issue involves cracking in the “bear strap,” a structural reinforcement around fuselage door openings, previously found only on older 737 Next Generation planes.
- No cracks have actually been confirmed on any 737 Max aircraft; the order is preemptive, based on shared design with the Next Generation model.
- Boeing says it first alerted operators to the issue in 2019 and continues to support both the Next Generation and new Max inspection mandates.
Where they differ
- CBS News gives the global fleet number (1,429 aircraft worldwide) and specific model designations (737 Max 8, Max 9, 737-8200), while the Guardian sticks to the 471-aircraft US figure.
- CBS News includes airline reaction, quoting Southwest Airlines and United Airlines on how they plan to schedule inspections, which the Guardian omits.
- The Guardian places more emphasis on the 737 Max’s broader troubled history, citing the 2018-2019 fatal crashes and Ryanair sending engineers to oversee Boeing’s factories.
- CBS News more precisely locates the crack risk as being near the forward service door by the galley, while the Guardian describes it more generally as around exit doors.
The Federal Aviation Administration has ordered inspections of Boeing 737 Max fuselages for possible cracking, after the same problem turned up in older 737 Next Generation planes. The directive, issued Thursday and taking effect from September, covers an estimated 471 aircraft registered in the US and about 1,429 worldwide, including 737 Max 8, 737 Max 9 and 737-8200 variants.
What exactly are inspectors looking for?
The concern centers on a part called the “bear strap,” a structural reinforcement built into the fuselage around door openings — specifically around the forward service door near the galley on the right side of the aircraft, and more broadly around exit doors. The bear strap helps the fuselage handle stress from repeated takeoffs and landings, and over time that stress can produce cracking near the corners of the doorway. The FAA warned that if left unaddressed, this kind of cracking “could lead to the inability of a principal structural element to sustain limit loads and adversely affect the structural integrity of the airplane.”
Have cracks actually been found on Max jets?
No. Both the FAA and Boeing say that, so far, no cracks have been detected on any 737 Max aircraft specifically. The cracking has only shown up on the older 737 Next Generation fleet, which has been under a similar FAA inspection order since 2021. Regulators are requiring the Max checks as a precaution, reasoning that because the Max shares much of the Next Generation’s design and manufacturing process, it’s likely susceptible to the same wear pattern even though it hasn’t shown up yet.
What did Boeing say about when it knew?
Boeing said it first flagged the bear-strap cracking issue to operators of its 737 Next Generation planes back in 2019, providing them detailed instructions for carrying out inspections at that time. According to Boeing’s statement, it extended similar inspection guidance to the 737 Max fleet in 2024, given the shared design and build process, even without confirmed cracks on those planes. A company spokesperson said Boeing “continues to support” both the earlier Next Generation directive and the new Max directive, and that it is running engineering analysis to pin down the root cause of the cracking so it can prevent it in future production.
How are airlines responding?
Southwest Airlines, a major 737 operator, said it was reviewing the new FAA directive and would carry out the required inspections on the schedule the agency sets. United Airlines said it doesn’t expect the order to affect its operations in the near term, since it plans to fold the inspections into already-scheduled heavy maintenance visits — and said that given how few flight cycles its oldest Max jets have logged so far, some of its aircraft won’t need inspection for some time.
Why is this getting extra scrutiny?
Any structural or safety directive involving the 737 Max draws heightened attention because of the model’s troubled history. The plane was grounded worldwide following two crashes, in 2018 and 2019, that killed hundreds of people and were tied to flaws in its flight-control software. Scrutiny intensified again in January 2024, when a door panel blew out mid-flight on an Alaska Airlines 737 Max, reviving concerns about Boeing’s manufacturing quality control. Ryanair, one of Boeing’s largest Max customers, has since sent its own engineers into Boeing’s US factories to monitor production of the jets it has ordered, reflecting lingering unease among airlines about build quality even as deliveries continue.
What happens next?
Inspections under the new directive are set to begin in September, giving operators a defined window to check the affected door-area reinforcements and make repairs before any cracking could reach a length regulators consider critical. Boeing has said the phased inspection schedule is designed to catch problems early, and that it is continuing engineering work aimed at eliminating the underlying cause of the cracking in future aircraft.
Sources
Featured photo: MarcelX42 via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)