By Jay Blackman, Emma Li and Dennis Romero – NBC News
The Federal Aviation Administration said Saturday it will temporarily ground flights of some Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft used by U.S. airlines, after a part of the cabin around a window detached while the plane was in the air.
"The FAA requires immediate inspection of some Boeing 737 Max 9 airplanes before they can fly again," FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said. "Safety will continue to guide our decisions as we assist in the investigation of what happened to Alaska Airlines Flight 1282."
The airline has already inspected four of its 737 Max 9 fleet, it said Saturday.
In the image you can see the hole in the cabin: the oxygen masks hung from the ceiling. Instagram/@strawberrvy / Instagram/@strawberrvy via REUTE
Flight 1282, which was bound for Southern California, managed to land safely at Portland International Airport, from where it had departed minutes earlier. No injuries have been reported so far: all 174 passengers and six crew members were safe.
The FAA said it returned to the airport after "the crew reported a pressurization issue."
It's unclear how or when the panel separated from the airframe.
The airline temporarily grounded its 65 aircraft of this model for maintenance and safety inspections. According to Alaska Airlines, a quarter of those inspections have already been completed, "with no troubling findings" and that the aircraft "would be back in service when the reviews were completed and they had full confidence."