SEATTLE: The US Federal Aviation Administration mentioned on Monday (Jul 27) that seats on lots of of Boeing 737 MAX jets registered within the US had been incorrectly put in and should be mounted.
If not, the seats may injure passengers and crew members throughout an emergency touchdown or block the aisle and sluggish an evacuation, the company mentioned.
The FAA’s proposed airworthiness directive issued on Monday would apply to 453 jets registered within the US. The company solely has jurisdiction over US airways, however international regulators sometimes observe FAA directives if relevant.
The proposed directive comes as Boeing works to enhance its manufacturing high quality and increase output underneath CEO Kelly Ortberg. Manufacturing high quality issues had been revealed in early 2024 when a door-plug panel blew out of a nearly new Alaska Air 737 MAX in flight.
The FAA mentioned within the airworthiness directive proposal that it obtained a report that some passenger seat assemblies weren’t accurately put in within the seat tracks.
That meant the assemblies may disengage from the seat tracks if there was an elevated load, turbulence or an emergency touchdown, the FAA mentioned.
“This situation, if not addressed, may lead to damage to passengers and crew throughout an emergency touchdown or may block the aisle, which may sluggish evacuation,” it added.
There could possibly be as much as 69 track-mounted passenger seat assemblies on every 737 MAX airplane and the problem would take an estimated one work hour to repair every meeting and requires no components to take action, the FAA mentioned.
It didn’t say how rapidly airways would wish to appropriate the problem.
A Boeing spokesperson mentioned the planemaker issued steerage to operators concerning the challenge in December 2025.
“We help the FAA making that steerage necessary,” the spokesperson mentioned in an e mail.
