The spectacular flight of a window caused the emergency landing this Friday evening of one of the Alaska Airlines planes with 177 people on board. As a precautionary measure, the American airline has decided to ground its Boeing 737 MAX-9. “After the event that occurred this evening on Flight 1282, we have decided as a precautionary measure to temporarily ground our fleet of 65 Boeing 737-9 aircraft,” announced Alaska Airlines boss Ben Minicucci in a press release.
“Each device will only be returned to service after the completion of comprehensive maintenance and safety inspections,” he added, estimating that it would take a few days. The Federal Civil Aviation Agency (FAA) explained on the social network one hour GMT on Saturday, before returning to land safely after the crew reported a “pressurization problem”.
The window had blown out just after takeoff
Images posted on social media showed the window blown out, with oxygen masks hanging from the ceiling of the aircraft. A passenger on the flight, Kyle Rinker, told the American television CNN that the window had blown out just after takeoff.
“It was really brutal. Barely at altitude, the front of the window just came off and I only noticed it when the oxygen masks came down,” he said. Another passenger, Vi Nguyen, told the American daily The New York Times that she had been awakened by a loud noise during the flight.
“I opened my eyes and the first thing I saw was the oxygen mask right in front of me,” she explained, “and I looked to the left and the side panel was gone.” “. “The first thing that came to my mind was ‘I’m going to die,'” she added. The National Transportation Safety Board, the FAA and Alaska Airlines each said they were investigating the incident.
The device certified in October
“The aircraft returned to land safely at Portland International Airport with all 171 passengers and six crew members,” according to a statement from the airline. “Although this type of incident is rare, our flight crew were trained and prepared to safely handle this situation,” the statement added.
According to the specialist site FlightAware, the Boeing 737 MAX-9 took off precisely at 5:07 p.m. (local time), heading towards Ontario, California before returning to the airport around twenty minutes later. The aircraft was certified in October, according to the FAA registry available online.