Following the major scare in which a window and a section of the airplane’s fuselage were lost mid-air, forcing an emergency landing in Oregon, Alaska Airlines has announced the temporary grounding of its entire Boeing 737 Max-9 fleet.

The aircraft, with 174 passengers and six crew members onboard, successfully landed in Portland after returning due to an emergency 35 minutes into its scheduled flight to California. Flight tracking data showed that the plane had ascended to an altitude of 16,000ft (4876m) before initiating its emergency descent.

Social media posts reveal photographs taken inside the distressed aircraft, displaying a significant breach on its left side located behind the wing and engine. Additional pictures depict the seat nearest to the affected region, which seems to have been unoccupied and suffered damage during the event.

Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci expressed his sympathy for the passengers on the flight in a statement released by the airline shortly after the accident. He conveyed his apologies for the ordeal they went through and also expressed gratitude towards the pilots and flight attendants for their response.

“Alaska Airlines flight 1282 from Portland, Oregon, to Ontario, California, experienced an incident this evening soon after departure,” the carrier also said in a statement, adding that it has decided to temporarily ground its entire fleet of 65 Boeing Max-9 aircraft until a thorough investigation has been concluded.

Boeing’s 737 series includes the Max-9, a single-aisle aircraft with twin engines. It entered service in May 2017 and is commonly employed for domestic flights within the United States.

Boeing is aware of the incident and is actively gathering more information. They have a technical team ready to assist with the investigation. Concurrently, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has confirmed that the airplane reported an issue with pressurization and has initiated an investigation.

After two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019 resulting in the deaths of 346 individuals, the Boeing 737 Max series faced extensive safety investigations. These incidents led to the grounding of the aircraft for a duration of 18 months starting in March 2019. Consequently, the series has gained the reputation of being the most closely examined transport aircraft in history.

In order to restart operations, extensive safety modifications were made to every Max aircraft. According to data provided by the manufacturer, it is estimated that approximately 1,300 Boeing 737 Max-9 planes are currently in service.