Alaska Airlines grounded all of its Boeing 737-9 planes late Friday, hours after a window and a piece of fuselage on one of those planes exploded in mid-air, forcing an emergency landing in Portland, Oregon.
The incident occurred shortly after takeoff and the gaping hole caused a loss of pressure in the cabin. Flight data showed the plane climbed to 16,000 feet (4,876 meters) before returning to Portland International Airport.
The airline said the plane landed safely with 174 passengers and six crew members.
“Following this evening's incident on Flight 1282, we have decided to temporarily ground our fleet of 65 Boeing 737-9 aircraft as a precautionary measure,” Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci said in a statement.
Each of the aircraft will be returned to service following comprehensive maintenance and safety inspections, which Minicucci said the airline will complete within days.
The airline initially did not provide any information about whether anyone was injured or what the possible cause could be.
According to flight tracking data from the FlightAware website, the plane was diverted about six minutes after takeoff at 5:07 p.m. It landed at 5:26 p.m
According to a recording on the website LiveATC.net, the pilot told Portland air traffic controllers that the plane was experiencing an emergency, was depressurized and needed to return to the airport.
A passenger sent KATU-TV in Portland a photo showing the hole in the side of the plane near the passenger seats. A video shared with the station showed people wearing oxygen masks and passengers clapping as the plane landed.
The National Transportation Safety Board said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that it was investigating an incident on the flight and would provide updates as they become available. The Federal Aviation Administration also announced it would conduct an investigation.
The Boeing 737-9 MAX involved in the incident rolled off the assembly line and received certification just two months ago, according to FAA online records.
The plane has been on 145 flights since it entered service on November 11, said FlightRadar24, another tracking service. The flight from Portland was the third of the day.
Boeing said it was aware of the incident, was working to gather more information and was ready to assist in the investigation.
The Max is the latest version of Boeing's venerable 737, a twin-engine, single-aisle plane often used on domestic flights in the United States. The aircraft entered service in May 2017.
In 2018 and 2019, two Max 8 aircraft crashed, killing 346 people and prompting a nearly two-year global grounding of all Max 8 and Max 9 aircraft. The planes were returned to service only after Boeing made changes to an automated flight control system that was implicated in the crashes.
Last year, the FAA asked pilots to limit the use of an anti-ice system on the Max in dry conditions because of concerns that the inlets around the engines could overheat and break off, potentially hitting the plane.
Max deliveries were temporarily paused to resolve manufacturing defects. The company asked airlines in December to inspect the planes for a possible loose screw in the rudder control system.
___
Associated Press reporter David Koenig in Dallas contributed to this report.