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The Federal Aviation Administration is temporarily grounding some Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes after part of the fuselage of one of the planes apparently blew open during an Alaska Airlines flight from Portland, Oregon to California, prompting an emergency landing as video showed a gaping hole in the side of the plane.
The FAA is requiring immediate inspections of certain planes before they can return to flight—a decision affecting approximately 171 airplanes worldwide, though United and Alaska Airlines are the only airlines in the U.S. that use the Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes.
Social media video from that flight appears to show part of the plane’s fuselage blown open as the plane is in the air, with a large hole in the wall exposing the cabin to the outside, as passengers donned oxygen masks.
The airline has said it is working with Boeing and regulators to better understand how the incident occurred and will also support the NTSB investigation.
In a statement to Forbes, Boeing said it agrees with and fully supports the FAA’s decision, has a technical team supporting the NTSB investigation and will remain in close contact with the regulator and the airline, noting that “safety is our top priority and we deeply regret the impact this event has had on our customers and their passengers.”
“My heart goes out to those who were on this flight – I am so sorry for what you experienced,” Minicucci said in a statement. “I am so grateful for the response of our pilots and flight attendants. We have teams on the ground in Portland assisting passengers and are working to support guests who are traveling in the days ahead.”
The incident comes on the heels of news that Boeing had issued a message to all operators of some Boeing 737 MAX airplanes “to look for a possible loose bolt in the rudder control system,” according to the FAA. CNN reported that Friday’s incident is likely unrelated to that issue, but that it still raises questions about Boeing’s quality control in manufacturing. In 2019, two Boeing 737 Max 8 planes were involved in fatal crashes within the span of less than a year—crashes that have increased scrutiny on the plane-maker’s safety processes.
Before the FAA order, United Airlines also voluntarily grounded some of its 737 Max 9 planes in the wake of the Alaska Airlines incident, according to Bloomberg, which cited a source familiar with the move.
