Alaska Airlines grounds its Boeing 737-9 fleet after terrifying images of a window blowout that occurred in midair

Following a frightening mid-air incident in which a glass and a portion of the fuselage blew out, forcing an emergency landing in the US city of Oregon, Alaska Airlines grounded its fleet of 65 Boeing 737-9 aircraft on Friday.

The event occurred soon after departure, and the cabin depressurized as a result of the large hole. According to reports, the aircraft ascended to 16,000 feet before landing back at Portland International Airport. According to the airline, the aircraft, carrying 174 passengers and 6 crew members, landed safely.

Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci issued a statement saying, “We have decided to take the precautionary step of temporarily grounding our fleet of 65 Boeing 737-9 aircraft following tonight’s event on Flight 1282.” An Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 was forced to make an emergency landing due to a depressurization event, and the US Transportation Safety Board said that it was looking into the matter.

The crew reported a pressurization problem, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) indicated it would look into it. FAA data indicates that Alaska Airlines received the new MAX 9 in late October, and it was certified in early November. Alaska stated in a statement, “Our flight crew was trained and prepared to safely manage the situation, even though this type of occurrence is rare.” “We are looking into what happened, and we’ll let you know more as it becomes available.”

WHAT WAS SAYED BY BOEING
Boeing stated in a statement that it was investigating the emergency landing. The airline released a statement saying, “We are aware of the incident involving Alaska Airlines Flight 1282.” The airline released a statement saying, “We are aware of the incident involving Alaska Airlines Flight 1282.” “We are in communication with our airline client and are striving to get further information. A technical team from Boeing is prepared to assist with the inquiry.

Posts on social media platform X (previously Twitter) showed oxygen masks being used and images of the aircraft losing a window and a section of the side wall. The rear mid-cabin escape door of the aircraft looked to have split from the aircraft during the flight, based on external photographs that Flightradar24 obtained. According to Flightradar24, the MAX 9 has a rear cabin door located behind the wings that may be “activated” in scenarios with a high concentration of seats in order to comply with evacuation regulations. On Alaska Airlines aircraft, however, they are permanently “plugged,” or disabled.

Boeing’s legendary 737, a twin-engine, single-aisle aircraft that is widely used on domestic flights in the United States, has a new model called the Max. The aircraft was put into operation in May 2017. Boeing said last week that it was advising airlines to check every 737 MAX aircraft for a potential loose bolt in the mechanism that controls the rudder.

Notably, two deadly incidents in 2018 and 2019 in Ethiopia and Indonesia resulted in the global grounding of the 737 MAX for 20 months. According to Reuters, the massive US carrier is seeking clearance for both the bigger MAX 10 and smaller 737 MAX 7. The FAA has been closely examining the MAX for years, and in 2021 it even claimed to have used satellite data to follow every 737 MAX aircraft.