A side panel of an airplane broke off an Alaska Airlines plane mid-flight Friday evening as it headed to Ontario from Portland.
According to the airline, Flight 1282 from Oregon to Southern California experienced an “incident this evening soon after departure.” The plane landed safely back at Portland International Airport despite the issues.
Some of the flight's 174 passengers described a loud 'boom' or 'pop' sound as the panel blew off shortly after takeoff from Portland, where the plane returned for an emergency landing. The blowout was followed by a howling sound of wind streaming into the cabin.
"Everything was going fine, and then we just heard a loud 'bang' or like a 'boom,'" a passenger told NBCLA. "I looked to my left, and there's this huge gaping hole on the left side where the window is. At first I thought it was the emergency door, but there was no door there. It was part of the wall that blew off."
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No injuries were reported.
On Saturday, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered the temporary grounding of certain Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft operated by U.S. airlines or in U.S. territory.
“The FAA is requiring immediate inspections of certain Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes before they can return to flight,” FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said. “Safety will continue to drive our decision-making as we assist the NTSB’s investigation into Alaska Airlines Flight 1282.”
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An image taken by Kyle Rinker showed part of the plane broken off near some seats. Passenger oxygen masks were also seen in the image, appearing to have dropped for travelers to use.
Details on what led to the piece’s removal were not immediately clear.
Passengers boarded another flight that arrived in Ontario early Saturday morning.
"I looked to my left and there's this huge chunk of the airplane missing," said passenger Elizabeth Lee. "Part of the airplane is missing, and the wind just was extremely loud. There's wind blowing everywhere."
Stan Sigstad said he heard a loud 'pop' sound and felt the push and pull of the wind through the hole in the fuselage.
"I felt it hit me in the face," Sigstad said. "I was trying to make sense of what's going on."
Alaska Airlines released the following statement:
"The safety of our guests and employees is always our primary priority, so while this type of occurrence is rare, our flight crew was trained and prepared to safely manage the situation. We are investigating what happened and will share more information as it becomes available."
As a result of Friday's incident, Alaska Airlines CEO, Ben Minicucci, said it would ground its fleet of 65 Boeing 737-9 aircrafts.
"Each aircraft will be returned to service only after completion of full maintenance and safety inspections," Minicucci said in a statement. "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."
The National Transportation Safety Board said it was investigating the “event” with Alaska Airlines Flight 1282.
No injuries were immediately reported in connection with the incident.
