The FAA said it was grounding all affected Boeing 737 Max 9s after an Alaska Airlines flight had a portion of its fuselage blow out over Oregon Friday night.
The Federal Aviation Administration has grounded certain Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft and will keep them grounded until the agency is “satisfied that they are safe,” an FAA spokesperson said in a statement Sunday.
The Emergency Airworthiness Directive, which is impacting about 171 planes worldwide, came after a paneled-over exit door on an Alaska Airlines plane , forcing the plane to make an emergency landing in Portland, Oregon. Such directives are issued “when an unsafe condition exists that requires immediate action by an owner/operator,” according to the agency.
“The FAA’s first priority is keeping the flying public safe,” the FAA spokesperson said. What happened on the Alaska Airlines flight?
The flight from Portland, Oregon to Ontario, California was minutes into its journey and had reached approximately 16,000 feet when the door blew, a National Transportation Safety Board official said Saturday during a press briefing. The gaping hole in the side of the jet opened up where Boeing fits a plug to cover an emergency exit that the airline does not use, the Associated Press reported.
