U.S. authorities are demanding the inspection of 171 Boeing 737 MAX 9 jets following an Alaska Airlines incident on Friday that saw a gaping hole blow in the fuselage of a MAX 9 plane at 16,000 feet. The Federal Aviation Administration in Washington D.C. said the move requires airlines to inspect aircraft before further flights take place. Required inspections will take around four to eight hours per aircraft. Both Alaska Airlines and United Airlines earlier said they were both grounding their 737 MAX 9 jets for safety checks. Alaska has 65 MAX 9 jets, while United has 79. Reuters reports Read more
