The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced that all 171 Boeing 737-9 MAX aircraft will remain on the ground after a window and a piece of fuselage from one of Alaska Airlines' passenger planes exploded in midair.
The US transportation agency said the planes will not fly until “enhanced inspections” of the planes including the right and left cabin doors, exit seals, door components and fasteners are completed.
The flight was ordered to be grounded to inspect the planes, which were installed with the same type of panels that fell from the new plane on Friday, which weigh about 27 kilograms and cover an optional exit door.
The affected fleet, including fleet operated by other airlines such as United Airlines, will remain grounded until the regulator deems it safe.
Fuselage delivery area for an Alaska Airlines flight
The Federal Aviation Administration said Saturday that it expects inspections to take four to eight hours per aircraft.
Alaska Airlines announced the cancellation of about 140 flights Monday due to the grounding.
The door plug was torn after the plane took off from Portland, OregonCausing the pressure to drop and forcing the pilots to turn back.
The plane, which was carrying 171 passengers and six crew members, landed safely.
While only minor injuries were reported due to the explosion, the situation could have been “extremely dangerous,” according to David Learmont, consulting editor at Flightglobal.
He told Sky News: “If there had been people near her who were not wearing seatbelts, they would have disappeared.”
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The flight suffers a mid-air explosion
Boeing said it “fully supports” the administration's decision to request inspections of the 737-9 MAX aircraft
“Same configuration” as the plane that was forced to land.
This is the latest release for Boeingthe largest airline in the world, after its 737 MAX aircraft were grounded for a year and a half after two crashes in 2018 and 2019.
The iPhone miraculously survived
It is unusual that an iPhone that fell thousands of feet from an Alaska Airlines flight after being sucked was still intact.
Game designer Sean Bates found the device on the side of the road and posted photos of it on X still running in airplane mode with 44% battery.
My iPhone was a little wet, opened and opened on the Alaska Airlines baggage claim, with the broken charger plug still stuck in the port.
