SEATTLE, Washington — An Alaska Airlines flight was forced to make an emergency landing in Portland, Oregon after a window and piece of fuselage blew out midair, causing the cabin to depressurize. All 174 passengers and six crew members on Flight 1282 were reported to be safe following the incident.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the United States has ordered the temporary grounding of Boeing 737 Max 9 jetliners until they are inspected, after the Alaska Airlines plane suffered a blowout that left a gaping hole in the side of the fuselage. The grounding order impacts 171 airplanes worldwide.
Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci said the airline had decided to take the precautionary step of temporarily grounding its fleet of 65 Boeing 737-9 aircraft. Inspections on more than a quarter of the fleet were complete with no concerning findings as of Saturday morning.
Boeing fully supports the FAA’s decision and is working to gather more information about the emergency landing. The new Boeing 737 Max 9 involved in the incident was delivered in late October to Alaska Airlines and certified in early November, according to FAA data. The Max is the newest version of Boeing’s 737 and went into service in May 2017.
All Boeing 737 Max jets were grounded worldwide for nearly two years after two crashes in 2018 and 2019. The aircraft were cleared to fly again after Boeing overhauled an automated flight-control system that activated erroneously in both crashes. The FAA has carefully scrutinized the Max for years, implementing satellite tracking for all 737 Max airplanes in 2021. All affected jetliners are required to undergo detailed inspections before returning to service.