07 January 2024 , 14:04
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The shocking window blowout on an Alaska Airlines flight has resulted in regulators pulling 171 planes from active service with thousands of travellers affected.
Major US airlines have been forced to ground the Boeing 737 Max 9s for checks after part of one planes' fuselage fell off on Friday over Oregon and the US aviation regulator has now acted to ensure the rest of that type of plane are safe to fly. But the move has had the knock-on effect of leaving travellers across the US high and dry – with Alaska Airlines saying it cancelled 160 flights on Saturday, affecting about 23,000 passengers.
Alaska Airlines said flight disruptions are expected to last into next week, while United Airlines has been forced to ground 79 planes. It follows regulator the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordering "immediate inspections" of 737 Max 9s worldwide with the level of inspections expected to take around four to eight hours per aircraft.
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The incident saw a number of people's mobile phones sucked out of the planeThe grounding order was issued when dozens of the Boeing 7373 Max-9 aircrafts would have been in the skies. An earlier report on Saturday said Alaska Airlines was poised to ground dozens of the planes after the window drama. As of Saturday, Alaska said one-fourth of its Max 9 planes have been inspected with "no concerning findings.
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"Aircraft will return to service as their inspections are completed with our full confidence." The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is following the FAA approach, but flight disruptions on the continent are expected to be minimal. EASA said it believes no European airlines operate Max 9s with the configuration covered by the FAA order.
Footage was captured while the plane was still in the air with the night sky visible outside (AP)A spokesperson for London Heathrow said there was no impact on flights, with the bulk of the affected planes owned by US airlines. Other airlines which also fly the planes have temporarily taken them out of service. A spokesperson for Boeing said it welcomed the FAA's decision, adding its teams were in close contact with the regulator.
Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci said the airline expects the inspections to be completed "in the next few days." During Friday's incident, Alaska Airlines flight 1282 from Portland, Oregon, to Ontario, California, reached 16,000ft (4,876m) when it began an emergency descent, according to flight tracking data. Passengers on board said a large section of the plane's outer shell fell to the ground shortly after take-off.
Images sent to news outlets showed the night sky and lights of Portland clearly visible through the gap in the fuselage, with insulation material and other debris also seen. One passenger said the gap was "as wide as a refrigerator" while another said a child's shirt was ripped off in the wind as the plane made its emergency landing. Other passengers lost mobile phones and one child had to held in his seat by his mother.