An Alaska Airlines plane made an emergency landing in Portland, Oregon, this Friday after a window and a piece of the fuselage were ejected in mid-flight shortly after takeoff.
A passenger sent a photo to KATU-TV showing what appears to be a huge hole in the side of the Boeing 737-9 MAX, next to the passenger seats. Other passengers have shared images on social networks.
The airline has confirmed that the plane landed with 174 passengers and six crew members on board. In addition, it has reported that it is going to immobilize all of its Boeing 737-9s.
"Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 from Portland, Oregon, to Ontario, California, suffered an incident this afternoon shortly after departure," the company said in an emailed statement, adding that it would share more information when it becomes available.
The plane was diverted after reaching a height of 4,876 meters, about six minutes after taking off at 5:07 p.m. local time, according to flight tracking data from the FlightAware website. It landed again at 17:26.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has ordered the temporary immobilization of the Boeing 737-9 MAX. Its chief executive officer, Mike Whitaker, has explained that they require inspections of the devices before they can fly again, a measure that will affect 171 aircraft around the world. These reviews can take between four and eight hours per plane.
For its part, the National Transportation Safety Board has explained in a publication on X, formerly Twitter, that it is investigating what happened during the flight and will offer information once it is available.
The Boeing 737-9 MAX rolled off the assembly line and received its safety certification just two months ago, according to FAA online records.
Boeing has said it is aware of the incident and is working to gather more information, in addition to showing its willingness to support the investigation.
The Max is the latest version of the vulnerable Boeing 737, a twin-engine, single-aisle plane typically used on domestic flights in the United States. This model entered service in May 2017.
Two Max 8 crashed in 2018 and 2019, leaving 346 dead, leading to the suspension of flights with that model and the Max 9 for almost two years. They returned to service after Boeing made changes to a control system. of automated flight involved in accidents.
Deliveries of the Max have been paused on some occasions to resolve manufacturing errors. In December, the company asked airlines to inspect the devices for a possible loose screw in the rudder control system.
