Alaska Airlines has temporarily grounded its Boeing 737 Man planes after one of them lost a window and a section of the fuselage mid-air on Friday. The passenger plane carrying 177 passengers and crew on board turned back minutes into its flight from Portland Oregon to Ontario California, and landed safely in Portland.
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According to FlightAware, the flight, Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 was airborne for about 20 minutes. The plane departed from Portland International Airport around 5:07 p.m. local time and landed at 5:27 p.m. Flight tracking data indicated that Flight 1282 had reached an altitude of 16,000ft (4876m) before it began its emergency descent.
Alaska airline said it would temporarily ground all 65 of its 737 Max 9 aircraft to conduct inspections.
“Each aircraft will be returned to service only after completion of full maintenance and safety inspections,” CEO Ben Minicucci said. “We anticipate all inspections will be completed in the next few days.”
“My heart goes out to those who were on this flight – I am so sorry for what you experienced,” he added.
In a statement late Friday, Alaska Airlines said it was working with Boeing to understand what took place on Flight 1282. The aircraft is a 737-9 Max that received its certificate of airworthiness on October 25, 2023, according to the FAA.
Images and video of the new Boeing 737 Max 9 shared on social media showed a gaping hole on the side of the plane and passengers using oxygen masks.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it is investigating the incident. The Federal Aviation Administration also said it plans to investigate.
Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, which was headed from Portland to Ontario, California, returned safely to Portland International Airport around 5 p.m. PT after “the crew reported a pressurization issue,” the Federal Aviation Administration said.
Boeing said it had been made aware of the incident and was “working to gather more information,” and that it had a technical team standing by to support an investigation.
The Max-9 is the latest of Boeing’s 737 series of twin-engine, single-aisle planes. The aircraft, which went into service in May 2017, is frequently used in US domestic flights.
The Boeing 737 Max series has been described as “the most scrutinised transport aircraft in history” following a series of investigations into its safety, particularly after the Max was grounded for 18 months in March 2019 following two crashes in 2018 and 2019, that killed a total of 346 people.
In order to resume operations, each Max aircraft underwent significant safety modifications. Around 1,300 Boeing 737 Max-9 planes are thought to be currently in operation, according to data from the manufacturer.
Nnamdi Maduakor is a Writer, Investor and Entrepreneur
