Alaska Airlines grounds Boeing 737 MAX 9 for checks after blowout
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Alaska Airlines grounds Boeing 737 MAX 9 for checks after blowout
(Reuters) - Alaska Airlines (ALK.N) is grounding dozens of Boeing 737 MAX 9 (BA.N) jets for safety checks after a cabin panel blowout forced a brand-new airplane loaded with passengers to make an emergency landing.
The piece of fuselage tore off the left side of the jet as it climbed out of Portland, Oregon, en route for Ontario in California on Friday, forcing pilots to turn back and land safely with 171 passengers and six crew on board.
It is the latest mishap involving Boeing's best-selling model, which was grounded for almost two years following crashes in 2018 and 2019, and comes as Boeing and a major supplier are grappling with a succession of production or quality problems.
There were no immediate indications of the cause of the apparent structural failure nor any reports of injuries.
Airline CEO Ben Minicucci said in a statement its fleet of 65 similar planes would be returned to service only after precautionary maintenance and safety inspections, which he expected to be completed in the "next few days".
U.S. aviation authorities announced an investigation.
The National Transportation Safety Board said on Saturday a team of experts in structures, operations and systems would arrive on the scene later that day.
Boeing also said it was looking into the incident.
"We are working to gather more information and are in contact with our airline customer," Boeing said.
Flight 1282 had reached just over 16,000 feet when the blowout happened, according to FlightRadar24.
"We'd like to get down," the pilot told air traffic control, according to a recording posted on liveatc.net.
"We are declaring an emergency. We do need to come down to 10,000," the pilot added, referring to the initial staging altitude for such emergencies, below which breathing is considered possible for healthy people without extra oxygen.
Social media posts showed oxygen masks deployed and a portion of the aircraft's side wall missing.
