Some Boeing 737-9 Max jetliners have returned to the air after US officials grounded all flights following an Alaska Airlines incident which left a gaping hole in the side of the fuselage.
Key points:
- An Alaska Airlines jetliner blew out a window and a portion of its fuselage shortly after take-off above Oregan
- United Airlines will also temporarily suspend flights on about nine aircraft of the same model
- Alaska Airlines said it had completed more than a quarter of inspections and found no issue
The Boeing 737-9 Max planes were grounded for inspections which took about four to eight hours per aircraft and will affect about 171 airplanes worldwide.
Major US airline, United Airlines, said it would also temporarily suspend flights on about five aircraft of the same model.
It would continue to operate 33 planes that had already received the necessary inspection required by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
An Alaska Airlines jetliner blew out a window and a portion of its fuselage shortly after take-off almost five kilometres above Oregon late on Friday.
The incident created a gaping hole and forced pilots to make an emergency landing as its 174 passengers and six crew members donned oxygen masks.
No-one was seriously hurt as the depressurised plane returned safely to Portland International Airport about 20 minutes after it had departed.
The airline has since grounded 18 Boeing MAX 9 airplanes pending potential additional maintenance work US regulators may require.
Meanwhile, it has resumed flights on 18 of its 65 MAX 9 planes which received in-depth inspections as part of heavy maintenance checks.
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The National Transportation Safety Board along with US regulator Federal Aviation Administration said it will also investigate.
Boeing says it fully supports the decision to inspect the jetliners, and was working to gather more information.
There are currently no Boeing 737 Max 9s flown by any airlines in Australia, Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority said.
Europe’s air safety agency has adopted FAA’s inspection order, while the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority said there were no 737-Max planes registered there.
‘Whooshing sound’ as window blows out
Passenger Evan Smith said a boy and his mother were sitting in the row where the window blew out and the child’s shirt was sucked off him and out of the plane.
“You heard a big loud bang to the left rear. A whooshing sound and all the oxygen masks deployed instantly and everyone got those on,” Mr Smith told KATU-TV.
Passenger Emma Vu told Reuters she initially thought there was just a crack in the window.
“I’m so grateful we weren’t higher in the air,” she said.
“I think that’s incredible that we’re all safe for the most part.”
The model makes up a fifth of the company’s 314 planes.
“We are working with Boeing and regulators to understand what occurred … and will share updates as more information is available,” Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci said.
“My heart goes out to those who were on this flight – I am so sorry for what you experienced.”
The Port of Portland, which operates the airport, told KPTV the fire department treated minor injuries at the scene.
One person was taken for more treatment, but wasn’t seriously hurt.
Flight 1282 had taken off from Portland at 5:07pm on Friday, local time, for a two-hour flight to Ontario, California.
About six minutes later, the window and a chunk of the fuselage blew out as the plane was at about 4.8 kilometres.
One of the pilots declared an emergency and asked for clearance to descend to 3 kilometres, the altitude where the air would have enough oxygen to breathe safely.
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Videos posted by passengers online showed a gaping hole where the window had been and passengers wearing their masks.
History of Max groundings
The Max is the newest version of Boeing’s 737, a twin-engine, single-aisle plane frequently used on US domestic flights.
The plane went into service in May 2017.
Two Max 8 jets crashed in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people and leading to a near two-year worldwide grounding of all Max 8 and Max 9 planes.
The planes returned to service only after Boeing made changes to an automated flight control system implicated in the crashes.
Max deliveries have been interrupted at times to fix manufacturing flaws.
The company told airlines in December to inspect the planes for a possible loose bolt in the rudder-control system.
AP/ Reuters