January 6th 2024.
It was an absolutely terrifying experience for all the passengers on board Alaska Airlines Flight 575. After take-off from Portland, Oregon, on Friday, a massive hole appeared in the plane in mid-air after part of the aircraft fell off.
The flight, carrying 177 passengers and crew, managed to make an emergency landing back in Portland shortly afterwards. There were no reports of injuries but the night sky could be seen out of the gaping hole, leaving everyone shocked and scared.
This incident has sparked a response from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), who have ordered the temporary grounding of certain Boeing 737 Max 9 aircrafts operated by US airlines or in US territory.
The airline, Alaska Airlines, has grounded 65 of its planes in response to the incident and inspections are expected to take around four to eight hours per aircraft. The airline's CEO Ben Minicucci said that each aircraft will be returned to service only after completion of full maintenance and safety inspections.
United Airlines also confirmed that they have carried out the inspection required by the FAA on some of its 79 Boeing 737 Max 9 planes. It is estimated that the removal of the aircrafts will cause about 60 cancellations on Saturday.
Boeing, the company who make the Max 9 planes, said that safety is their top priority and they deeply regret the impact this event has had on their customers and their passengers. They will now cooperate with the National Transportation Safety Board’s investigation of the Alaska Airlines incident.
The Max is the newest version of Boeing’s 737, a twin-engine, single-aisle plane frequently used on US domestic flights. The plane went into service in May 2017 and was grounded for a near two-year period after two Max 8 jets crashed in Asia and Africa in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people.
This recent incident has brought into question the safety of these planes and how the Federal Aviation Administration will respond in the future. It is clear that the safety of passengers must be the top priority, so it will be interesting to see what steps will be taken in the upcoming weeks.
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