US grounds 171 aircraft after section of Alaska Airlines plane blew out midair

Shocking videos and photos show a gaping hole in the side of the passenger plane, and people’s belongings were reportedly sucked out during the scary ordeal on Friday evening (Saturday AEDT).

Oxygen masks dropped from the ceiling for the 171 passengers aboard and the pilot declared an emergency.

“We just depressurised, we’re declaring an emergency. We need to descend down to 10,000. We just need to depressurise … and we need to return back to Portland,” the pilot said to air traffic control, according to a transcript.

Flight 1282 was travelling to Ontario International Airport in California from Portland International Airport with 171 passengers and six crew members.

It took off at 4.52pm on Friday, local time, but returned just 35 minutes later, according to data from flight tracking website Flight Aware, NY Post reports.

Passenger Kyle Rinker told CNN “it was really abrupt, just got to altitude and the window/wall just popped off.”

CNN correspondent Pete Muntean, who covers aviation and is also a pilot and flight instructor, said the part of the fuselage that was missing was a “plug” in place of an optional emergency exit.

One passenger told local television station KPTV that people’s phones were sucked out of the plane and a child had to be held down in his seat by his mother. He also reportedly lost his shirt.

Vi Nguyen, whose footage during the emergency landing went viral on TikTok, woke up during the flight to the hole in the plane ahead of her.

The 22-year-old told The New York Times, “the first thing I thought was, ‘I’m going to die.’”

“I open up my eyes and the first thing I see is the oxygen mask right in front of me,” she explained. “And I look to the left and the wall on the side of the plane is gone.”

A passenger at the front of the plane, Courtney, described it on TikTok as “the scariest moment of my life”.

She said they heard “a loud bang” and didn’t know what was happening when the oxygen masks dropped.

In one of her clips after landing, passengers were told to remain seated while medical personnel treated injured people.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating.

FAA said “the crew reported a pressurisation issue” and confirmed the flight returned safely to Portland.

Alaska Airlines decided to ground its entire fleet of 65 Boeing 737 MAX-9 aircraft on Friday night (Saturday AEDT) for safety inspections, before the FAA then ordered the temporary grounding of 171 planes operated by US airlines or in US territory.

“The FAA is requiring immediate inspections of certain Boeing 737 MAX-9 planes before they can return to flight,” FAA administrator Mike Whitaker said.

Boeing said it supported the FAA’s decision “to require immediate inspections of 737-9 airplanes with the same configuration as the affected airplane”.

“Safety is our top priority and we deeply regret the impact this event has had on our customers and their passengers,” the company said, adding that a Boeing technical team was supporting the NTSB’s investigation.

Alaska Airlines had released an initial statement acknowledging the flight “experienced an incident”, without divulging further details.

Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci then later released a statement announcing the company had grounded the fleet as a “precautionary step” and promised “each aircraft will be returned to service only after completion of full maintenance and safety inspections”.

At midday on Saturday (7am Sunday AEDT), Alaska Airlines said 18 of its 65 Boeing 737 MAX-9 aircraft were cleared to return to service.

“Of the 65 737-9 aircraft in our fleet, it was determined that 18 had in-depth and thorough plug door inspections performed as part of a recent heavy maintenance visit,” a statement said.

The remainder of the inspections are expected to be completed in “the next few days”.

Mr Minicucci said Alaska Airlines was working with Boeing and regulators “to understand what occurred tonight”, and would share updates as more information is available.

“My heart goes out to those who were on this flight – I am so sorry for what you experienced,” he said.

“I am so grateful for the response of our pilots and flight attendants. We have teams on the ground in Portland assisting passengers and are working to support guests who are travelling in the days ahead.”

Boeing 737 MAX troubled history

Only a week ago airlines across the world were told to inspect their Boeing 737 MAX jets after one unnamed airline discovered a small missing part on a plane.

Boeing instructed operators to look for a possible loose bolt in the rudder control system, according to the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The rudder controls movement of the aircraft about its vertical axis while in flight.

The inspections were prompted by an airline finding a bolt with a missing nut while performing routine maintenance.

FAA said it was an international operator that made the discovery.

A nut that was not properly tightened was also found on a second undelivered aircraft.

“The FAA will consider additional action based on any further discovery of loose or missing hardware,” the regulator said.

Virgin Australia has three and Bonza has six of the Boeing 737 MAX-8 planes, which they started flying this year.

Both airlines confirmed to news.com.au they would carry out the inspections and there would be no impact to operations.

The Boeing 737 MAX-8 jets are not the aircraft that the FAA ordered inspections of following the Alaska Airlines emergency, those are certain Boeing 737 MAX-9 aircraft.

The Boeing 737 MAX has a troubled history.

Two 737 Max planes – Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 and Indonesian carrier Lion Air flight 610 – crashed in October 2018 and March 2019, killing 346 people.

The jets were grounded until they were cleared to fly again in the US in 2020 and in the UK and EU in 2021.

It cost Boeing more than $US20 billion, making it one of the most expensive corporate tragedies in history, according to CNN.