The Federal Aviation Administration ordered the temporary grounding of some Boeing 737 Max 9 planes after an Alaska Airlines aircraft made an emergency landing due to a portion of the plane blowing out mid-flight.
“The FAA is requiring immediate inspections of certain Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes before they can return to flight,” FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said in a statement on 6 January.
“Safety will continue to drive our decision-making as we assist the NTSB’s investigation into Alaska Airlines Flight 1282,” the statement continued.
The inspections will affect roughly 170 planes around the world and will span around four to eight hours per aircraft, the FAA noted.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg wrote on X: “Safety will always be the top priority for our Department and for FAA. Administrator Whitaker has acted to order these aircraft grounded pending the inspections necessary to ensure that they are safe to operate.”
The FAA’s announcement comes after Alaska Airlines opted to ground all of its Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft as a “precautionary” measure following the incident on 5 January.
An Alaska Airlines plane, holding 171 passengers and six crew members, was flying from Portland, Oregon to Ontario, California when the crew noticed a “pressurization issue” shortly after take-off, the FAA said. Apparently, the aircraft blew out a window and a chunk of its fuselage.
Photos posted on social media captured the gaping hole in the aircraft with air masks deployed.
Not long after, the plane landed safely back in Portland, the airline wrote. The matter is being investigated by the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board.
On Saturday, Alaska Airlines announced that after inspecting “a quarter of our 737-9 fleet,” they have discovered “no concerning findings.” The airline added, “Aircraft will return to service as their inspections are completed with our full confidence.”
