Alaska Airlines grounded 737-9 MAX aircraft after plane window was blown out

• An Alaska Airlines plane had to make an emergency landing after takeoff because a window was blown out.
• The plane took off from Portland, Oregon, and was scheduled to land in California.
• Alaska Airlines said it was investigating what happened.

Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 from Portland to California was forced to turn back Friday afternoon after a decompression problem outside the window appeared to tear off part of the plane, according to reports.

As a result of the incident, Alaska Airlines has temporarily grounded 65 Boeing 737-9 MAX aircraft to complete safety and maintenance checks, the airline announced on X.

Photos provided to local news outlets and shared on social media show a large section of the plane’s fuselage missing from the rear left side.

One video of the incident posted on TikTok shows passengers wearing oxygen masks as the plane descends. You can see a gaping hole in the side of the plane.

“Everyone on board is safe,” the video says. “Luckily no one was sitting by the window.” Business Insider was unable to independently verify the footage.

According to Fox 12, part of the plane was blown off while the passengers were thousands of feet in the air.

An anonymous passenger who spoke to Fox 12 said the child’s shirt was torn as a result of the incident. Another passenger said he had to hold on to his child to keep him from falling off the plane. Another anonymous passenger told the station that a cell phone had flown through the window.

Alaska Airlines said in a statement to Business Insider that it is aware of the incident.

“An accident occurred shortly after departure this evening on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 from Portland, Oregon to Ontario, California,” the airline said in a statement. “The aircraft landed safely at Portland International Airport with 174 passengers and six crew members on board. We are investigating what happened and will share information as it becomes available.”

The National Transportation Safety Board announced it was investigating the incident. The FAA also acknowledged the incident in a statement to Business Insider and said it would investigate.

The Boeing 737-9 MAX took off from Portland International Airport around 5 p.m. Pacific Time and landed 30 minutes later, according to publicly available flight records. The plane climbed to an altitude of 16,000 feet and began its descent.

The Boeing 737-9 MAX is a variant of the Boeing 737 MAX series, which has been involved in two high-profile crashes that killed hundreds of people. Following the second crash involving Ethiopian Airlines, the plane was grounded on international flights.

This is breaking news.