US REGULATORS have announced they will order the temporary grounding of Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft after a window was ripped from a plane mid-flight.
The Federal Aviation Administration said on Saturday evening that the planes required immediate inspections.
XThe FAA is requiring immediate inspections of certain Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes before they can return to flight[/caption]
Associated PressUS regulators will order the temporary grounding of Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft[/caption]
KPTVA portion of a plane was ripped out forcing an Alaska Airlines flight to make an emergency landing[/caption]
It comes after a window was ripped from a plane in mid-air, tearing the shirt off a child and sucking passengers’ phones from their hands.
The Alaska Airlines flight, which left Portland, Oregon for Ontario, California at 4:40pm on Friday was plunged into chaos less than an hour into its journey.
Stunned passengers described seeing a large section of the plane blown out mid-air with dramatic pictures of the aftermath showing a gaping hole in its side.
The FAA said in a statement published to X on Saturday evening: “The FAA will order the temporary grounding of certain Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft operated by US airlines or in US territory.
“The Emergency Airworthiness Directive (EAD) that will be issued shortly 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.
“The EAD will affect approximately 171 airplanes worldwide.”
FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker added: “The FAA is requiring immediate inspections of certain Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes before they can return to flight.
“Safety will continue to drive our decision-making as we assist the
@NTSB’s investigation into Alaska Airlines Flight 1282.”
Shocking footage shared on TikTok captured the chaos of Friday afternoon, showing passengers using emergency oxygen masks as the plane was still in the air.
The person who posted the clip wrote: “A part of the plane flew off not even 20 minutes into our flight.”
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