The Federal Aviation Administration has ordered the temporary groundings of certain Boeing 737 Max 9 models after an incident Friday where a window blew out of a plane in the air operated by Alaska Airlines.
“The FAA is requiring immediate inspections of certain Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes before they can return to flight,” FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said in a statement. “Safety will continue to drive our decision-making as we assist the NTSB’s investigation into Alaska Airlines Flight 1282.”
Alaska Airlines had already made the decision to ground all of its Boeing 737 Max 9 jetliners after the incident. Shortly after takeoff three miles above Oregon, a portion of the plane wall blew off creating a gaping hole that sucked clothing off a child and forced the pilots to make an emergency landing as its 174 passengers and six crew members donned oxygen masks.
No one was seriously hurt as the depressurized plane returned safely to Portland International Airport about 20 minutes after it had departed.
The Emergency Airworthiness Directive (EAD) that will be issued by the FAA will require operators to inspect aircraft before further flight that do not meet the inspection cycles specified in the EAD. The required inspections will take around four to eight hours per aircraft and will affect approximately 171 airplanes worldwide.
It is not immediately known how that will affect flight schedules for airlines with the specific jetliners in their fleet.
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