Alaska Airlines crash: Passengers face flight cancellations as dozens of Boeing 737 Max 9 planes grounded after window blowout

Thousands of passengers are facing flight cancellations after major US airlines have grounded dozens of Boeing jets after a window blew out on an Alaska Airlines flight over Oregon. The US aviation regulator said 171 Boeing 737 Max 9s must be grounded for checks.

Alaska Airlines said flight disruptions are expected to last into next week. The airline cancelled 160 flights on Saturday (6 January) affecting about 23,000 passengers.

United Airlines has grounded 79 planes after the regulator the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered "immediate inspections" of 737 Max 9s worldwide. Disruptions are likely to primarily affect flights in the US. 

Turkish Airlines has grounded five of its 737 Max 9s. While Flydubai said its three 737 Max 9s were not affected as they had a "different configuration" compared to the Alaska Airline planes and have completed recent safety checks.

British regulator the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said there are no registered Boeing 737 Max 9 planes in the UK and therefore the impact would be "minimal". London Heathrow Airport said there was no impact on flights. A CAA spokesman said: "We have written to all non-UK and foreign permit carriers to ask for confirmation that inspections have been undertaken prior to any operation into UK airspace.”

During the incident which occurred on Friday (5 January), an Alaska Airlines flight from Portland, Oregon, to Ontario, California, reached 16,000ft (4,876m) when it began an emergency descent, after a window blew out. One passenger said the gap was "as wide as a refrigerator" while another said a child's shirt was ripped off in the wind as the plane made its emergency landing.

The plane was carrying 177 passengers and crew, and landed safely back in Portland. Alaska Airlines said several passengers were injured but not seriously. 

The airline said: "The aircraft involved in flight 1282 was delivered to us on 31 October. The part of the aircraft involved in this event is called a plug door - a specific panel of the fuselage near the rear of the aircraft." Authorities are still searching for the plug door, which they believe fell to the ground in the community of Cedar Hills, about 11 km (seven miles) west of central Portland.

In the US, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has taken charge of the Alaska investigation and its chair confirmed no passenger had been seated next to the affected section.