The Federal Aviation Administration on Saturday ordered the temporary evacuation of some Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes after a panel exploded during an Alaska Airlines flight Friday night, causing an emergency landing.
“The FAA will order the temporary grounding of certain Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft operating on U.S. airlines or within U.S. territories.” Posted by Agency on X Saturday.
The grounding involves approximately 171 aircraft worldwide.
The FAA said the emergency airworthiness directive “requires operators to inspect aircraft prior to future flights.”
The necessary inspections will take four to eight hours per aircraft, according to the order.
The FAA's order comes less than 24 hours after the side panel of an Alaska Airlines MAX 9 blew off mid-flight, forcing the plane bound for Ontario, California, to reverse course and make an emergency landing in Portland.
One person was hospitalized, but no serious injuries were reported, KPTV Portland's Debra Gill said. Posted in X.
Alaska Airlines grounded its MAX 9 fleet immediately after Friday's incident.
Shortly before the FAA's announcement, CNBC United Airlines has grounded dozens of MAX 9 planes pending inspection.
United Airlines and Alaska Airlines are among the largest users of the Boeing 737 MAX-8, a large aircraft that was involved in two fatal crashes in 2019 that killed 346 people.
Boeing said it supports the move. “Safety is our top priority and we deeply regret the impact this incident has had on our customers and their passengers,” the manufacturer said in a statement. in a statement. “We agree with and fully support the FAA's decision to require immediate inspection of 737-9 aircraft with the same configuration as the affected aircraft.”
“We remain in close contact with regulators and our customers,” it said in a statement.
The company also said it would send a technical team to assist the NTSB's investigation into the incident.
Alaska Airlines has already returned some planes to service after inspections found no problems. The Wall Street Journal reported.According to a trade publication, United Airlines announced that it had canceled 60 flights due to the grounding. aviation source news.
This is a developing story. Please continue checking back for updates.
