Investing.com -- Shares in Boeing (NYSE:BA) fell sharply in premarket trading in New York on Monday, as reports say that the planemaker and U.S. regulators have hit a snag in carrying out safety inspections in the wake of a mid-air breach of a 737 Max jet last week.
On Friday, a plug in an emergency door ripped from the left side of a Boeing 737 Max 9 jet shortly after the takeoff of an Alaska Airlines flight from Portland, Oregon to Ontario, California. Pilots turned around and landed the plane. Several passengers were treated for minor injuries, but no deaths were reported.
The Federal Aviation Administration subsequently ordered the temporary grounding of around 171 Boeing jets on Saturday. The agency later said the planes will not return to the air until it is "satisfied that they are safe."
But, citing people familiar with the matter, Reuters has reported that the FAA and Boeing have yet to agree on the criteria for the safety checks -- a crucial step before the inspections can take place and flights can resume.
Boeing, meanwhile, is planning to hold a company-wide meeting to discuss the incident, according to media reports. The firm has already faced heavy scrutiny over two fatal crashes of its 737 Max 8 plane in 2018 and 2019.
According to the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, a "missing component" from the Max 9 jet involved in the incident had been found and recovered from the backyard of a home in suburban Portland. A spokesperson for the NTSB called the piece "key" to determing why the accident happened.
Analysts at Citi said in a note to clients that they do not expect this latest issue to impact other variants of the 737 because the Max 9 model is "the only one supporting a configuration that allows for a plugged door." As a result, they argued that there was likely a fault with "this particular aircraft" rather than a broader design problem.
"This likely limits [Boeing]’s financial exposure to an immaterial amount in the context of longer-term targets," the Citi analysts added.
Kansas-based Spirit Aerosystems (NYSE:SPR) manufactured and installed the plug that blew out, Reuters has reported, citing sources. Shares in the group also slumped premarket on Monday.