Airplane News: 737 Max 9 Loses Door in Flight, NASA to Release X59, and New Cirrus G7 Series.

Welcome to your weekly General Aviation news update, and this week we have 3 stories for you; 737 Max 9 loses plug door in flight, NASA to release X59 this week, and the new Cirrus G7 Series. 00:00 Introduction 00:15 Boeing 737 Loses Door 02:06 NASA Releasing X59 03:06 New Cirrus G7 Series

First up this week is an Alaskan Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9, which lost a plug door while climbing out of Portland, OR. The door was blown off in an explosive decompression that left a hole in the airplane and even reportedly tore the shirt off of a teenager sitting nearby. The decompression occurred at nearly 16,000 feet. No one was occupying the seat directly next to where the decompression occurred and thankfully injuries were limited to scratches. The aircraft landed without incident back in Portland where an investigation was promptly initiated. So far, the FAA has issued an emergency Airworthiness Directive to carriers operating the 737 Max 9 requiring inspection of the door plugs. These plugs exist because some carriers use more seats in the aircraft and thus require additional emergency exits. On United and Alaska Airlines planes, the number of seats is reduced, so the doors are fitted with a permanent plug. It’s unclear how this plug failed and became loose enough to be blown off, but loose screws and bolts were found on other 737 Max 9s in United’s fleet after the Airworthiness Directive. And this folks, is why you wear your seatbelt… Maybe Trevor Jacobs was onto something?? Next up this week is NASA, who has announced that they will unveil the X59 supersonic demonstrator. NASA, in partnership with Lockheed Martin Skunk Works, has been developing the X59 since 2018 when Skunk Works was selected to design, build and fly the demonstrator. The primary goal of the X59 is to prove that quiet supersonic flight can be achieved. The X59 will cruise at 55,000 feet, mach 1.4, and will be about 75dB. The aircraft will fly over selected US cities later this year as part of NASA’s research to hopefully bring back supersonic air travel! We’ll keep you updated with what we see out of the X59! Third up is the new Cirrus SR Series G7! The G7 is an update to the SR20, SR22, and SR22T with updates including 12-inch and 14-inch touchscreen displays, similar to those in the Vision Jet. Engine start is now a push-button start, again mimicking the Vision Jet. Cirrus has also added improved flight controls, incorporating a stick shaker on both left and right controls, an automatic fuel selector that switches tanks every 5 gallons, and flap protection to protect the pilot from accidentally deploying or retracting flaps. Interior additions include the 12 or 14-inch Garmin displays, dimmable task lights, accent lighting, two center console compartments, powered headset jacks, and USB-C chargers. Pretty cool updates from Cirrus affecting the new 2024 model SR aircraft! Alright, that’s it! Happy new year and we’ll see you next week! https://www.flyingmag.com/the-big-reveal-cirrus-shows-off-the-sr-g7/ https://www.nasa.gov/mission/quesst/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/alaska-airlines-flight-door-plug-jack-teenager-shirt-passenger-kelly-bartlett/