US regulator orders inspections on some Boeing MAX 9 planes after emergency

Washington, United States – The US air safety regulator announced Saturday it was grounding some Boeing 737 MAX 9 airplanes pending inspections, a day after a panel blew out of one of the planes over the western state of Oregon. 

The Federal Aviation Administration “is requiring immediate inspections of certain Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes before they can return to flight,” the agency said on X, the former Twitter.

The agency said around 171 aircraft worldwide would be affected, with each inspection taking four to eight hours.

“Safety will continue to drive our decision-making,” the FAA statement said.

Alaska and United Airlines fly the largest number of MAX 9 planes, while Icelandair and Turkish Airlines have smaller fleets of these aircraft.

Boeing has so far delivered some 218 737 MAX 9 planes worldwide, the company told AFP.

US-based Alaska Airlines grounded all 65 of…