FAA grounds some Boeing 737 Max 9 planes after mid-air scare

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Saturday ordered US airline operators to temporarily ground some Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft for inspections.

The order came after an Alaska Airlines flight had to make an emergency landing when a window and piece of fuselage blew out in midair on Friday.

The hole in the aircraft was ripped open some 20 minutes after takeoff, causing the cabin to depressurize.

The FAA said it was requiring immediate inspections of MAX 9 planes operated by US airlines or flown in the country by foreign carrier, affecting about 171 planes worldwide.

Early on Sunday, United Airlines announced it had temporarily suspended services on all Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft.

“We are working with the FAA to clarify the inspection process and the requirements for returning all MAX 9 aircraft to service,” the airline said in a statement.

Earlier, United Airlines said that around 33 of its 79 MAX 9 planes had been inspected as required by the FAA.

Alaska Airlines canceled around 140 flights on Sunday, according to the FlightAware flight tracking firm, and United is expected to cancel 60 flights.

Outside of the US, Alaska Airlines said there were no Max 9 planes registered in the UK that were affected by the temporary suspension of some of the aircraft.

The impact of the grounding of the planes was therefore minimal in the UK.

Meanwhile, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency adopted the FAA directive.

However, it is noted that no EU member state airlines "currently operate aircraft in the affected configuration."

Alaska Airlines grounded its entire fleet of Boeing 737 Max 9 after Friday's incident, but had returned some of its grounded planes to service.

The hole in the aircraft was ripped open some 20 minutes after taking off, causing the cabin to depressurize.

Oxygen masks were released and the plane safely landed soon after, with over 170 passengers and six crew members unharmed.

“Following tonight's event on Flight 1282, we have decided to take the precautionary step of temporarily grounding our fleet of 65 Boeing 737-9 aircraft,” Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci said in a statement.

Union hails grounding, requested investigation

The president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, Sara Nelson, said the union "supports the FAA's quick and decisive action to ground certain 737 MAX 9 Fleet that do not meet the inspection cycles specified in the Emergency Airworthiness Directive."

Republican lawmaker Ted Cruz, who heads the congressional committee overseeing the FAA, called for a thorough investigation.

"The NTSB (National Transporation Safety Board) and FAA must thoroughly investigate this incident to address an alarming breach of safety," he said.