The temporary grounding will affect about 171 planes worldwide, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
The Federal Aviation Administration said that they will require “immediate inspections of certain Boeing 737 Max 9 planes” after the window on one such plane .
The FAA’s statement, released on Saturday afternoon, said an “Emergency Airworthiness Directive” would be released shortly as well. These directives are issued “when an unsafe condition exists that requires immediate action by an owner/operator,” according to the agency.
This will affect about 171 planes worldwide, the FAA said. Safety inspections for each plane will take between four and eight hours. There have been about 218 such planes delivered around the world, the FAA said, but not all such aircraft were in operation at the time the EAD was issued.
“Safety will continue to drive our decision-making as we assist the NTSB’s investigation into Alaska Airlines Flight 1282,” FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said.
Transportation officials applauded the FAA’s quick decision.
