United Airlines has confirmed that it has extended the inspection process of mid-cabin exit plugs on its Boeing 737 fleet and that it started carrying out pro-active checks on 737-900ER aircraft, in addition to grounded 737 MAX 9 aircraft last week.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has told airlines that it is now recommending they carry out inspections of mid-cabin exit plugs on some older Boeing 737 models in addition to the grounded 737 MAX 9.
The agency has stopped short of mandating additional checks, and there is currently no suggestion that the model could be grounded as the investigation into why an exit plug blew out of a brand new Alaska Airlines 737-9 shortly after takeoff on January 5.
On Sunday, the FAA said it was recommending that…