A US plane Boeing 737 Max 9 carrying passengers made an emergency landing last night after a window and a chunk of fuselage blew out in mid-air shortly after takeoff on Friday night.
According to the BBC, the Alaska plane returned to Portland 35 minutes into its flight to California after part of its outer section fell,
No casualties or fatalities were recorded during the incident and Alaska Airlines said the 177 passengers and crew on board “landed safely”.
Images making the round show the damaged area of the plane including insulation materials, metal in the affected part and hanging oxygen masks.
The damage affected the back third of the plane, behind the wing and engines, in an area that is an additional emergency exit door.
According to Alaska Airlines, the area wasn’t used as an emergency exit door, and the seat there was unoccupied.
For safety reasons, the airline would “temporarily” ground all of its 737 Max 9 aircraft to conduct proper checks.
“While this type of occurrence is rare, our flight crew was trained and prepared to safely manage the situation,” Alaska Airlines said.
Alaska Airlines CEO, Ben Minicucci said in a press release: “Following tonight’s event on Flight 1282, we have decided to take the precautionary step of temporarily grounding our fleet of 65 Boeing 737-9 aircraft.
“Each aircraft will be returned to service only after completion of full maintenance and safety inspections. We anticipate all inspections will be completed in the next few days.”
He explained that the airline is working with Boeing and regulators to understand what happened and will avail the public as more information are gotten. “The (US National Transportation Safety Board) is investigating this event and we will fully support their investigation.
“My heart goes out to those who were on this flight – I am so sorry for what you experienced. I am so grateful for the response of our pilots and flight attendants.
“We have teams on the ground in Portland assisting passengers and are working to support guests who are traveling in the days ahead.”
Boeing, the plane’s manufacturer confirmed it has been briefed on the incident and was gathering more information for final investigation.