In a move that has raised concerns about the safety of the aircraft, Alaska Airlines has grounded all 65 of its Boeing 737 MAX jets after a mid-air emergency landing. The airline made the decision following an incident on a flight from Mexico City to Los Angeles, where a section of the plane’s fuselage appeared to blow out mid-air, forcing the pilots to make an emergency landing in Portland.
According to reports, the incident occurred on Tuesday evening when Alaska Airlines Flight 870 was cruising at an altitude of 37,000 feet over the Pacific Northwest. Passengers and crew members reported hearing a loud noise and feeling a jolt, followed by the loss of cabin pressure. The pilots made an emergency landing at Portland International Airport, where the plane was met by emergency responders.
No injuries were reported among the 192 passengers and 6 crew members on board, but the incident has raised concerns about the safety of the Boeing 737 MAX, which has been involved in two deadly crashes in the past two years. The aircraft has been grounded worldwide since March 2020, following the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines flight that killed all 157 people on board.
In a statement, Alaska Airlines said that it was taking the incident “very seriously” and was working closely with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Boeing to determine the cause of the incident. The airline also said that it was grounding all of its Boeing 737 MAX jets until further notice.
The FAA has launched an investigation into the incident, and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has sent a team of investigators to Portland to assist with the probe. The NTSB said in a statement that it was too early to determine the cause of the incident, but that it would be looking at all aspects of the flight, including the aircraft, its maintenance, and the crew’s performance.
The incident has raised questions about the safety of the Boeing 737 MAX, which has been plagued by problems since it entered service in 2017. The aircraft has been involved in two deadly crashes, including the crash of Lion Air Flight 610 in Indonesia in October 2018, which killed all 189 people on board. The crashes have been linked to a software system called the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS), which was designed to prevent the plane from stalling.
