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An Alaska Airways aircraft takes off from Los Angeles Worldwide Airport (LAX) on December 4, 2023 in Los Angeles, California.
Mario Tama | Getty Photos Information | Getty Photos
Alaska Airlines will quickly floor its fleet of 65 Boeing 737 Max 9 planes after a piece of the aircraft blew out midflight on Friday, forcing the crew to make an emergency touchdown.
“Every plane might be returned to service solely after completion of full upkeep and security inspections,” CEO Ben Minicucci mentioned. “We anticipate all inspections might be accomplished within the subsequent few days.”
Alaska Airways Flight 1282 was heading to Ontario, California, from Portland when it returned shortly after departure with 171 passengers and 6 crew aboard, the airline mentioned.
Photos and video of the brand new Boeing 737 Max 9 shared on social media confirmed a gaping gap on the aspect of the aircraft and passengers utilizing oxygen masks. It landed again in Portland at 5:26 p.m. native time, in line with Flightradar24. It had reached an altitude of greater than 16,000 ft.
The Nationwide Transportation Security Board mentioned it’s investigating the incident. The Federal Aviation Administration additionally mentioned it plans to research.
“Whereas any such prevalence is uncommon, our flight crew was educated and ready to soundly handle the state of affairs,” Alaska mentioned.
The aircraft was licensed in November, in line with flight-tracking website FlightAware.
Boeing additionally mentioned it was conscious of the incident.
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