An Alaska Airlines aircraft takes off from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on December 4, 2023 in Los Angeles, California.
Mario Tama | Getty Images News | fake images
Alaska Airlines will temporarily ground its fleet of 65 boeing 737 Max 9 after a section of the plane exploded mid-flight on Friday, forcing the crew to make an emergency landing.
“Each aircraft will return to service only after completing full maintenance and safety inspections,” said CEO Ben Minicucci. “We anticipate all inspections will be completed in the coming days.”
Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 was headed to Ontario, California from Portland, Oregon, when it returned shortly after takeoff with 171 passengers and six crew members on board, the airline said.
Images and video of the new. boeing The 737 Max 9 shared on social media showed a gaping hole in the side of the plane and passengers wearing oxygen masks. It landed back in Portland at 5:26 p.m. local time, according to Flightradar24. It had reached an altitude of 16,325 feet before returning to Portland.
The National Transportation Safety Board said “no serious injuries were reported.” He is sending a team to Portland to investigate and will arrive later Saturday. The Federal Aviation Administration also said it plans to investigate.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a social media message Saturday. mail that it had been informed about the “frightening incident” and that the FAA plans to “take all appropriate actions in the future.”
“While this type of occurrence is rare, our flight crew was trained and prepared to handle the situation safely,” Alaska said.
The plane was certified in November, according to flight tracking site FlightAware.
‘Explosive decompression’
Boeing also said it was aware of the incident but declined to comment further.
“We are working to gather more information and are in contact with our airline customer,” he said in a statement. “A Boeing technical team is ready to support the investigation.”
The incident was described as “an explosive decompression at the departure window,” said Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants (CWA), the union representing Alaska cabin crew and flight attendants at United. , Spirit and other airlines.
“Our Union firmly believes in this decision [to ground the Max 9 fleet] “It is a prudent and necessary step to ensure the safety of all crew and passengers,” he said in a statement. “We will closely monitor the safety inspection process to ensure that aircraft are not returned to service until they are deemed safe for everyone.”
Exit door ‘covered’
The Boeing 737 Max 9 has a cabin exit door behind the wings for use in densely seated cabin configurations, such as those used by low-cost airlines, according to Flightradar24.
“The doors do not activate on Alaska Airlines planes and are permanently ‘plugged,'” Flightradar24 said.
The airline did not immediately respond to a question about the gate and Boeing declined to comment beyond its statement.
united airlines prepares to immobilize dozens of its boeing 737 Max 9 for inspections, according to a person familiar with the matter.
There are 215 Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft in service worldwide, according to aviation data firm Cirium. It had more than 5,000 flights scheduled for this year before the Alaska announcement, Cirium said.
The Boeing 737 Max 9 is a larger version of Boeing’s best-selling airliner, the 737 Max 8. Max planes were grounded worldwide in 2019 after two fatal crashes in five months. The United States lifted the ban on the planes from flying in late 2020 after software updates and training.
Late last year, Boeing urged airlines to inspect planes for a “possible” loose bolt in the rudder control system, the latest in a series of manufacturing flaws in planes that have prompted additional inspections.
CORRECTION: Alaska Airlines had about 5,000 flights on the 737 Max 9 scheduled for this year. An earlier version mischaracterized the number of flights.
