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  • 11 May, 2024

After the crash, all 174 passengers and 6 crew members made an emergency landing in Portland and were all safe.

Alaska Airlines said it was grounding its Boeing 737 Max 9 after making an emergency landing in Portland, Ore., after a window and part of the fuselage exploded. The incident happened shortly after take-off on Friday when a leak caused the air pressure in the cabin to drop. Flight data showed the plane climbed to 16,000 feet (4,876 meters) before returning to Portland International Airport.

The airline said Flight 1282, bound for Ontario, California, landed safely with 174 passengers and six crew members on board.

"The airline has decided to take the precautionary measure of temporarily grounding 65 Boeing 737-9 aircraft," CEO Ben Minicucci said in a statement. Each aircraft is scheduled to return to service after completing a full maintenance and safety inspection, which Minicucci expects the airline to complete within days.

Alaska Airlines did not provide additional information about a possible cause, but said the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the incident.

The new Boeing 737 Max 9 involved in the crash was delivered to Alaska Airlines in late October and certified in early November, according to FAA data.

US plane maker Boeing said it was aware of the crash landing, was gathering more information and was prepared to assist in the investigation. The Max is the latest version of the Boeing 737 and entered service in May 2017.

All Boeing 737 Max planes have been grounded for nearly two years following two crashes, the first in Indonesia in October 2018, which killed 189 people, and the other in Ethiopia five months later, which killed 157 people.

Boeing cleared the plane to fly again after overhauling its automatic flight control system, which malfunctioned in two crashes.

Boeing is awaiting certification for the smaller 737 Max-7 and the larger Max-10. The FAA has closely monitored Max for several years. It said it will track all 737 Max aircraft using satellite data by 2021.