A passenger plane, Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9, flight 1282, heading from Portland to California, has been reported to have turned around, thirty five minutes into its flight due to a depressurization on Friday afternoon.
According to reports, the plane lost a window and a section of its fuselage in mid-air, forcing it to make an emergency landing in the US state of Oregon.
The airline said that the 177 passengers and crew on board landed safely.
It added that it would “temporarily” ground all 65 of its 737 Max 9 aircraft to conduct inspections.
“While this type of occurrence is rare, our flight crew was trained and prepared to safely manage the situation,” the airline said.
Boeing said it was aware of the incident and was “working to gather more information”
It was flying at more than 16,000ft (4,876m) when it began its emergency descent, according to flight tracking data.
Pictures showed the seat closest to the affected section, a window seat that passengers said was unoccupied, leaning forward without its cushion.
It was also seen that the affected area was in the back third of the plane, behind the wing and engines.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) noted on X, that it was investigating the incident.
The Boeing 737 Max has been described as “the most scrutinised transport aircraft in history” after a series of safety issues and investigations.
The Max was grounded in March 2019 for a year-and-a-half after two of the type crashed in similar circumstances,killing those on board.
To fly again, each Max plane underwent significant modifications, although the changes would not be visible from the outside and passengers would not notice any difference.
More recently, it was reported that Boeing would increase the pace of 737 Max deliveries after resolving a supply error that required it to conduct lengthy inspections of new planes and its inventory.
In December, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)urged airlines to inspect Max models for a possible loose bolt in rudder control systems.
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