Alaska Airlines Grounds 65 Boeing 737 MAX Jets After Emergency Landing

Alaska Airlines will temporarily ground dozens of Boeing 737 MAX jets after a section of one of its new planes ripped away in midair Friday, forcing it to make an emergency landing.

The plane, a 737 MAX-9 with more than 170 passengers and six crew, returned safely to Portland, Ore., after experiencing an incident that flight attendants described as an “explosive” decompression. Photos and video that passengers posted on social media showed a gaping opening in the plane. Oxygen masks dangled down.

“Each aircraft will be returned to service only after completion of full maintenance and safety inspections,” Alaska Chief Executive Ben Minicucci said, describing the grounding as a precautionary step. Minicucci said the airline is working with Boeing and regulators to understand what happened and expects the inspections to be completed in the next few days. Alaska has 65 of the Boeing 737 MAX-9 jets in its fleet.

The Federal Aviation Administration said that the plane returned after its crew reported a pressurization issue. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board both said they are investigating.

The Boeing 737 MAX plane involved in the incident was certified by the FAA in November.

Boeing said it is aware of the incident and was gathering information. “A Boeing technical team stands ready to support the investigation,” the company said. A spokeswoman declined to comment further.

The Alaska flight departed shortly after 8 p.m. ET en route to Ontario, Calif., and reached a maximum altitude of about 16,000 feet before flying back to Portland International, according to aviation tracker Flightradar24. Alaska Airlines will temporarily ground dozens of Boeing 737 MAX jets after a section of one of its new planes ripped away in midair Friday, forcing it to make an emergency landing.

Two crashes of the 737 MAX in 2018 and 2019 grounded the jets around the world for almost two years. The accidents took 346 lives and drew scrutiny from federal regulators and lawmakers. Both crashes were of the smaller MAX-8 variant.

United Airlines, which also operates the MAX-9, didn’t immediately comment.

—Sharon Terlep and Micah Maidenberg contributed to this article.

Write to Alison Sider at [email protected]