US: Canceled many flights after plane window burst incident

Alaska Airlines (USA) has canceled 170 flights after the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a flight suspension order for all Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft, related to an incident where a plane's window exploded and forced an emergency landing.

The cancellations affected nearly 25,000 Alaska Airlines passengers, and the airline expects more cancellations in the first half of this week as the investigation continues.

The FAA order was issued after Alaska Flight 1282, carrying 174 passengers and 6 crew members, departed from Portland International Airport, Oregon, on the evening of January 5 and had to return after only 20 minutes due to an incident. A window on the fuselage of the plane burst, forcing the plane to make an emergency landing.

According to data from the flight tracking website FlightAware, the plane climbed to 15,000 feet (4,876 meters) and then began to descend. Images posted on social media later showed a window on the plane gone, while emergency oxygen masks popped out above the seats.

Image of the plane window incident on Instagram. Photo: REUTERS

The FAA said it is requiring immediate inspections of all Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft before allowing them to return to service. The inspections will take between four and eight hours per aircraft. The FAA said the decision is to ensure passenger safety.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the crash. FAA online records show the Boeing 737-9 MAX was certified two months ago.

Boeing's 737 MAX planes were grounded worldwide after two MAX 8 crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed a total of 346 people. The FAA only allowed the planes to fly again after Boeing made changes to the plane's flight control system.

MINH CHAU

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