An order by US officials to ground 737 Max 9s for inspection will affect 171 aircraft worldwide.
A cabin panel flew off in midair during an Alaska Airlines flight, leaving a gaping hole in the plane’s fuselage and forcing an emergency landing.
The incident took place on Saturday. Social media images showed emergency oxygen masks hanging from the ceiling as passengers huddled in their seats in trepidation.
Here’s what you need to know about the incident, and the Boeing 737 Max 9 jetliner:
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What happened to the flight?
Alaska Air Flight 1282 suffered a blowout that left a gaping hole in the side of the fuselage.
En route to Ontario, California, the plane made an emergency landing in Portland, in the US state of Oregon.
Flight data showed the plane climbed to 16,000 feet (4,876 metres) before the incident took place, with the hole causing the cabin to depressurise.
What happened to the blown-off piece?
The door fell off over the Portland suburb of Cedar Hills, according to the chair of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Jennifer Homendy.
Homendy called on residents to come forward if they found it.
Were any passengers affected?
The plane landed safely with all 174 passengers and six crew members.
No passengers were seated next to the cabin panel, said Homendy. However, The Oregonian newspaper quoted passengers as saying a young boy seated in the row had his shirt ripped off by the sudden decompression, injuring him slightly.
Several other passengers also suffered injuries.
What was the cause of the incident?
Alaska Airlines has not provided information about the possible cause, but the NTSB and the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) have said they will investigate the incident.
How old was the plane?
The new Boeing 737 Max 9 involved in the incident was delivered to Alaska Airlines in late October and certified in early November, according to FAA data. It had been in service for just eight weeks.
The Max is Boeing’s newest version of the 737 and went into service in May 2017.
How many planes have been grounded as a result and what is the impact?
Federal officials in the United States have ordered the temporary grounding of all Boeing 737 Max 9 jetliners operated by US airlines or flown in the US by foreign carriers until they are fully inspected.
The order affects 171 planes worldwide, with inspections expected to take about four to eight hours per aircraft.
In the US, Alaska Airlines and United Airlines are the only carriers using the MAX 9.
Alaska Airlines cancelled 160 flights on Saturday, 20 percent of scheduled trips, while United cancelled 104 flights, 4 percent of departures.
Alaska Airlines said disruptions were likely to last through at least midweek.
What have been past safety concerns about Boeing 737 Max jets?
Boeing 737 Max jets were grounded worldwide for almost two years after a crash in Indonesia in October 2018 which killed 189 people, and another in Ethiopia five months later, which killed 157 people.
The aircraft was cleared to fly again after Boeing revamped its automated flight-control system that had activated erroneously in both crashes.
What have been the reactions of international airlines to the incident?
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency adopted the FAA’s grounding directive, but said no EU member state airlines “currently operate an aircraft in the affected configuration”.
Turkish Airlines said it had withdrawn its five Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft from service for inspection.
Panamanian carrier Copa Airlines has temporarily grounded 21 737 Max 9 aircraft.
A British air safety regulator said it would require any 737 Max 9 operator to comply with the FAA directive to enter its airspace.
Aeromexico said it was grounding all of its 737 Max 9 planes while inspections are carried out.
Icelandair said none of its 737 Max 9s featured the plane configuration specified in the FAA grounding order.
Airline flydubai said on Sunday that the three Boeing 737 Max 9 planes in its fleet were not affected, according to Dubai-based Khaleej Times newspaper.
KUALA LUMPUR, June 2 — The remains of Zulkifli Yusuf, who died after being stranded on Mount Denali in Alaska, have been brought down from the mountain.
The Alpine Club Malaysia stated this in a Facebook post today.
“We received information from the Consulate-General of Malaysia in Los Angeles and rescuers that the 37-year-old’s remains were brought down at 8.30am on June 1 (local time).
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“His remains are kept at a hospital in Anchorage, Alaska and will undergo further procedures. Malaysian consular representatives are helping his family deal with the insurance company to bring the body back to Malaysia,” it added.
The post added that two other climbers, Muhammad Illaham Ishak, 47, and Zainudin Lot, 47, are still being treated for frostbite in hospital.
The post also stated that the club’s representative Norsafrina Shamsir Md Nasir is currently in Talkeetna, Alaska to help bring back the remains and the other two climbers.
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The club said that those who need more information or have any enquiries could contact its liaison officer Ayob at 017-3372696.
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“For now, we request that their family members be given privacy and for all Malaysians to pray that all arrangements will proceed smoothly,” it added.
The Alpine Club Malaysia yesterday said that one of its three climbers who were stranded at an altitude of 19,700 feet on Mount Denali in Alaska, since Tuesday while climbing the tallest mountain in North America, has died.
The club said that Zulkifli reportedly died at 6 am (local time) on May 29 while taking shelter in a snow cave known as the ‘Football Field’. — Bernama
One man was killed early Saturday in a downtown Anchorage shooting, and responding officers shot and wounded another man who witnesses said had been involved, according to police.
According to an Anchorage Police Department statement, officers were making a bar-break patrol on the 700 block of West 4th Avenue at about 2:25 a.m. The officers then heard gunfire from a parking lot on the southeast corner of H Street and West 3rd Avenue, near the Nesbett Courthouse.
Police said that gunfire was from an “altercation” in the parking lot, which left one man dead at the scene and a second shot in the lower body.
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“The number of shooters, who they are, the motive behind the shooting, and whether the parties involved were known to one another are all under investigation,” police said. “Multiple people fled the scene once the parking lot shooting occurred.”
As the patrol officers responded, police said, witnesses pointed out a man to them and said he had been involved in the shooting.
“Officers engaged the male, who was armed with a gun, near 3rd Avenue and G Street,” police said in the statement. “Two officers discharged their weapons, striking the adult male in the upper and lower body.”
Police have not named the man killed during the initial encounter in the parking lot. The two injured men were both taken to local hospitals. Police said the man wounded in the initial shooting had injuries that weren’t life-threatening, and the man shot by officers was in stable condition.
Police are asking anyone who saw the initial shooting and hasn’t yet spoken with investigators to contact them at 311. Drivers can expect street closures Saturday in the vicinity of both shooting scenes, which police say are being investigated separately.
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The two officers involved in the subsequent shooting will be named in three days and have been placed on four days of administrative leave under standard APD policy, according to the statement. That shooting will be investigated first by the state Office of Special Prosecutions for any violations of state law, then by APD Internal Affairs for any violation of police policy.
Saturday’s encounter occurred as officers’ fatal shooting of Kristopher Handy at a Sand Lake apartment complex last month has placed the department under public scrutiny. APD Chief Designee Bianca Cross, appointed by outgoing Mayor Dave Bronson, said in a news conference hours after Handy’s May 13 death that he had raised a long gun at officers – a claim soon contradicted by a neighbor who said her surveillance footage showed otherwise. Cross also said that the four officers who shot Handy were wearing body cameras, but has said that footage will not be released until after an investigation, despite his family’s calls to do so immediately.
This story will be updated as additional details become available.
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Chris Klint is a web producer and breaking news reporter at Alaska Public Media. Reach him at cklint@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Chris here.
On the Must Read Alaska Show, host John Quick interviews Scott Kendall, a prominent litigator, strategic consultant, and lightning rod figure in campaign and election law in Alaska.
Scott shares his insights on ranked-choice voting vs. STAR voting, which was discussed on the MRAK Show recently with one of its co-developers, Mark Frohnmayer. Scott also discusses his experiences supporting various candidates, including his stance in the recent Anchorage mayoral race, in which he supported mayor-elect Suzanne LaFrance.
Scott also provides an analysis of some of the issues facing Alaska, such as education funding, teacher recruitment, and retention. Additionally, he offers his perspectives on the upcoming presidential election and local congressional races.
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Join John and Scott for a look at the current and future political landscape in Alaska, demonstrating the importance of thoughtful dialogue between differing view points.
