The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the United States has ordered inspections on hundreds of Boeing 737 Max aircraft to examine their structural integrity. This directive, issued on Thursday, impacts three models of the 737 Max series – Max 8, Max 8-200, and Max 9, totaling around 470 airplanes.
The Airworthiness Directive (AD) serves to notify owners and operators of certified aircraft that specific models may have safety hazards that need to be addressed. The directive comes after reports to the FAA noted cracks near the galley door cutout on some planes. The galley door cutout refers to a structural opening on the aircraft body reserved and cut out for installing galley service doors or emergency doors/work doors.
Effective from September 10th, the directive requires inspections on the bear strap and fuselage skin of the circular fuselage structure from the cockpit to the tail section. The FAA has stated that these cracks could lead to unsafe conditions in operational aircraft but has not ordered a grounding of the 737 Max planes.
The directive asserts that the actions required by it and the compliance timeframe are expected to ensure the aircraft’s safety reaches an acceptable level. It further mentions that undetected cracks could result in major structural components being unable to withstand limit loads, affecting the structural integrity of the aircraft.
Boeing informed The Hill that they identified the issue and reported it to the FAA. Over the past six years, they have been collaborating with operators to address this problem. In 2019, Boeing notified the operators of 737NG aircraft of this issue and recommended inspections with detailed instructions. Subsequently, the FAA mandated these inspections in a 2021 Airworthiness Directive.
Although the 737 Max fleet has not experienced this issue, due to similarities in design and manufacturing processes, Boeing has expanded the inspection scope to these aircraft as well. The company expressed support for both directives and will continue to assist airline customers.
The FAA first proposed a rule concerning 737 Max cracks in November 2025, which Boeing supported without modifications. Following the rule proposal, the Foundation for Aviation Safety submitted supplemental comments inquiring about the fundamental causes of the defects and measures being taken by the FAA and Boeing to address them.
The directive issued on Thursday explicitly states that Boeing is “making improvements to the manufacturing process to address the structural issues that led to the defects.” On July 27th, the FAA also issued another directive requiring inspections on seat assemblies of the same Boeing 737 Max model. Reports had suggested deficiencies in the seat installations of this model that could lead to seat detachment and passenger injuries during emergency landings. This directive is not yet in effect.
(Credit to The Hill for reference in this report)