As A Result Of The Alaska Airlines Accident, The Ministry Of Transportation Bans Lion Air Using The Boeing 737-9 MAX

Lion air (photo: dock. Antara)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Transportation (Kemenhub) through the Directorate General of Civil Aviation prohibits Lion Air airlines from using Boeing 737-9 MAX aircraft for its flight operations.

This ban was issued by the Ministry of Transportation following reports about the release of the emergency exit door of the Boeing 737-9 MAX aircraft belonging to Alaska Airlines which occurred on January 5, 2024.

Direktur Jenderal Perhubungan Udara M. Kristi Endah Murni mengatakan larangan sementara penggunaan pesawat Boeing 737-9 MAX ini bertujuan untuk melakukan review lebih jauh terkait dengan aspek keselamatan masyarakat.

"Based on a review and evaluation by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and coordination with Lion Air, it was decided to stop the temporary grounded operation of the Boeing 737-9 Max aircraft from January 6, 2024, until further developments," he said in an official statement, Monday, January 8.

Kristi said the Directorate General of Civil Aviation would then coordinate with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the United States Region Asia Pacific, Boeing and Lion Air to continue to monitor the situation.

"And we will provide more information along with the development of the situation. Safety and safety of flight operations remain our priority," he said.

Kristi said previously the Directorate General of Civil Aviation had reviewed and evaluated Lion Air's Boeing 737-9 MAX aircraft with PK-LRF registration, PK-LRG, PK-LRI.

"The result was that the three planes did not have the mid exit door plug as installed on the Alaska Airlines plane because Lion Air used the mid cabin emergency exit door type II," Kristi said.

Furthermore, Kristi said that with the use of the mid cabin emergency exit door type II, it means that the system at the central emergency gate is functioning actively and can be used for the evacuation process.

Then, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation has issued Airworthiness Directives (AD) or Airworthiness Guidelines 24-01-001-001-U concerning the implementation of the FAA AD 2024-02-51 specifically for B737-9 aircraft which has a mid cabin door plug issued on January 7, 2024. Therefore, the ban on the use of Boeing 737-9 Max aircraft was also implemented.