Explainer: Missing door 'plug' may hold vital clues to how a gaping hole blew open on a jetliner
ABC News
Few people thought much about “plugs” that seal unused exits on planes until one of them failed and blew a hole in an Alaska Airlines jet
Investigators were searching Sunday for the piece of fuselage that blew off a Boeing airliner over Oregon on Friday, hoping to gain physical evidence of what went wrong.
The gaping hole in the side of the Alaska Airlines jet opened up where aircraft maker Boeing fits a “plug” to cover an emergency exit that the airline does not use.
The plugs are on most Boeing 737 Max 9 jets. The Federal Aviation Administration has temporarily grounded those planes until they undergo inspections of the area around the door plug.
WHY THE PLUG IS THERE
Some larger Boeing 737s have emergency exits on fuselages behind the wings to meet a federal requirement that planes be designed so passengers can evacuate within 90 seconds even if half the exits are blocked.
