The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has temporarily grounded Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft operated by US airlines in U.S. territory.

The announcement follows the terrifying incident on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, which made an emergency landing after a section of the aircraft blew out in mid-air.

Alaska Airlines Flight Makes Emergency Landing After Section Of Plane Blows Out Mid-Air

Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, traveling from Portland, Oregon, to Ontario, California, faced severe depressurization, causing the ejection of a large window section and an unoccupied seat.

One passenger on the plane told local media that a panel on the side of the plane blew out, taking one of the windows with it, causing rapid cabin decompression.

The horrifying incident reportedly resulted in a child’s shirt being ripped off.

WATCH:

“The Emergency Airworthiness Directive (EAD) that will be issued shortly will require operators to inspect aircraft before further flight that do not meet the inspection cycles specified in the EAD,” the FAA stated.

“The EAD will affect approximately 171 airplanes worldwide,” the agency added.

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“The FAA is requiring immediate inspections of certain Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes before they can return to flight,” the agency stated.

On Saturday, Alaska Airlines said it decided to “take the precautionary step of temporarily grounding our fleet of 65 Boeing MAX-9 aircraft.”

“Each aircraft will be returned to service only after completion of full maintenance and safety inspections,” the airline stated.

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The emergency inspections reportedly have impacted travel for at least 23,000 people.

Per CNBC:

The National Transportation Safety Board sent a team to Portland on Saturday to investigate the incident.

United Airlines, the largest operator of the planes in the U.S., had prepared to ground dozens of its Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft for inspections, CNBC reported earlier.

United has 79 Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft in its fleet but just over 30 of them have already “received the necessary inspection that is required by the FAA,” the airline said. The inspections were expected to cause about 60 flight cancellations on Saturday, United said.

The FAA said the inspections will take between four and eight hours per plane.

The Boeing 737 Max 9 is a larger version of Boeing’s best-selling jetliner, the 737 Max 8. Max planes were grounded worldwide in 2019 after two fatal crashes within about five months of one another. The U.S. lifted its flight ban on the jets in late 2020 after software and training updates.

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