PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is ordering a temporary grounding of certain Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft after a flight heading to Ontario, Calif. on one of those planes had to make an emergency return landing to Portland when a portion of the aircraft blew out mid-air shortly after takeoff on Friday evening, the FAA announced in a statement.

Alaska Airlines released another statement at noon Saturday, saying their maintenance team had begun the detailed inspection process of the grounded fleet early that morning. Of the 65 Boeing 737-9 aircrafts, 18 were been cleared to return to service. Alaska said the inspections of the remaining planes will be completed in the next few days.

Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 originally departed from Portland International Airport around 5 p.m. and then turned around after reaching an altitude of 16,000 feet when the incident happened. The plane landed safely at PDX shortly before 5:30 p.m.

Alaska Airlines flight makes emergency landing at PDX after window blew out

Social media video appeared to show that one of the passenger window panels had been blown out.

The flight included 171 passengers and six crew members, Alaska Airlines officials confirmed to KOIN 6.

In a statement to CBS News, the Federal Aviation Administration said the crew reported a “pressurization issue,” which the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board are now investigating.

The Boeing 737 Max 9 flight was certified in November 2023. Boeing said it has a technical team standing by to support the investigations.

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Just after 11:30 p.m. Friday, Alaska Airlines CEO, Ben Minicucci reacted to the incident, stating:

At Alaska Airlines, safety is our foundational value and the most important thing we focus on every day. Following tonight’s event on Flight 1282, we have decided to take the precautionary step of temporarily grounding our fleet of 65 Boeing 737-9 aircraft. Each aircraft will be returned to service only after completion of full maintenance and safety inspections. We anticipate all inspections will be completed in the next few days.

I am personally committed to doing everything we can to conduct this review in a timely and transparent way.

We are working with Boeing and regulators to understand what occurred tonight, and will share updates as more information is available. The NTSB is investigating this event and we will fully support their investigation.  

My heart goes out to those who were on this flight – I am so sorry for what you experienced. 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 traveling in the days ahead.

-Ben

Later Saturday, Alaska issued another statement that included this:

As of 4pm PT today, we have cancelled 160 total flights, affecting roughly 23,000 guests. We are identifying necessary cancellations for tomorrow and expect the disruption to last through at least mid-week. A flexible travel policy is in place for guests to change or cancel their flights. Guests should visit alaskaair.com for rebooking options. We are deeply sorry for the disruption this has caused our guests. 

It wasn’t immediately clear whether there were any reported injuries in the incident, but one passenger said a teenage boy had his shirt ripped off and his mother saved him from getting pulled out of the plane.

“The oxygen masks dropped down, and I look to my left to hear and see wind blasting, with a piece of the wall gone,” said passenger Elizabeth Le. “There was no one in the window seat but a mom and her teenage son sitting [on] the aisle.”

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One passenger told KOIN 6 about the reaction from others on the plane.

“Everyone was very calm, actually. It kind of helped. Everyone was just focused on making sure we were back on the ground safely,” he said.

The FAA’s statement, released on Saturday afternoon, said an Emergency Airworthiness Directive or EAD would be released shortly as well. These directives are issued “when an unsafe condition exists that requires immediate action by an owner/operator,” according to the agency.

This will affect about 171 planes worldwide and safety inspections for each plane will take between four to eight hours.

Stay with KOIN 6 as this story develops.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.