Hundreds of flights across the US have been cancelled after 171 Boeing 737 Max 9 planes were grounded for safety tests.
Airlines are scrambling to check the troubled planes after an emergency exit door fell off mid-flight in what could have been a major air disaster.
The Federal Aviation Authority on Saturday grounded the planes until they could all be checked for the same faulty door plug that caused the near-accident.
Alaska Airlines flight 1282 made an emergency landing 10 minutes after takeoff from Portland to Ontario, California, on Friday with 171 passengers and six crew.
The airline was the hardest hit by the grounding as it has 65 of the aircraft in its fleet and cancelled 138 flights on Monday – 20 per cent of its schedule.
Airlines are scrambling to check the troubled planes after an emergency exit door fell off mid-flight in what could have been a major air disaster
An emergency exit used as a cabin window blew out of the Alaskan Airlines flight from Portland to California at 16,000 feet
Another 170 flights were cancelled on Sunday, and expected the chaos to continued well into this week.
United cancelled 204 flights, about seven pre cent of its schedule, and Monday and 60 on Sunday as it has 79 of the planes in its fleet.
Alaska initially hoped to inspect all the affected planes within a couple of days, but on Monday said it was waiting for instructions from the FAA.
‘While we await the airworthiness directive inspection criteria from the FAA and Boeing, our maintenance teams are prepared and ready to perform the required inspections,’ it said.
The airline said cancellations would continue through the first half of the week, and passengers should check their email and the company’s website for updates.
All 171 Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft in the US are grounded until the safety inspections are carried out.
Some passengers vented their frustrations at their flights being cancelled, claiming they were stranded or had to pay huge sums to make their trips.
‘I chose and paid for a flight and seats based on my schedule. You decided to cancel my return flight,’ one wrote.
‘I have spent an absurd amount of time on-line trying to correct, two phone calls and a conversation with an agent in person, all who were ensuring me a ‘good seat’.’
‘United… thinking it’s okay to try to cancel my flight and charge me $1200+ to get on the next available flight,’ another raged.
‘I’m going to be stuck here for 2 days with no compensation??? I need help.’
An Alaska passenger was also stuck: ‘Thanks for leaving my family of 5 stranded in Costa Rica with no options to get home!!
‘If you cancel a flight you should at least rebook us!! Fly with Alaska and you are on your own! Terrible support!’
Boeing shares plummet 8.6 per cent – from $248 to $228 – between Friday evening and Monday morning.
The stock continued to plunge after the market opened, reaching $226 – and analysts warned it was expected to continue falling until the planes were back in service.
Alaska Air’s shares fell 4.3 per cent in early Monday trading before bouncing back, while United Airlines shares dropped 2.4 per cent then made a strong recovery.
There were no serious injuries from Friday’s terrifying air failure, but passengers’ belongings including phones flew out the aircraft.
One of the cellphones, an iPhone, was found by video game designer Sean Bates who said that he picked it up while out for a walk.
The sudden loss of pressure was enough to pull the headphones off the pilot’s head and, according to a passenger, rip the shirt off a boy sitting near the failed door and blow it out of the aircraft.
The explosive rush of air damaged several rows of seats and pulled insulation from the walls. The cockpit door flew open and banged into a toilet door.
Alaska Airlines flight 1282 took off from Portland at 5.07 pm on Friday for a two-hour trip, but about six minutes later, the chunk of fuselage blew out as the plane was climbing at about 16,000 feet.
Several passengers described a loud noise before freezing wind swept through the cabin and oxygen masks dropped down.
One of the pilots declared an emergency and asked for clearance to descend to 10,000 feet, where the air would be rich enough for passengers to breathe without oxygen masks.
One passenger who filmed the drama said she woke up from a nap believing the plane had hit turbulence – only to discover a large hole in its fuselage
Videos posted online by passengers showed a gaping hole where the paneled-over door had been. They applauded when the plane landed safely about 13 minutes after the blowout.
Firefighters came down the aisle, asking passengers to remain in their seats as they treated the injured.
One of the passengers, Emma Vu, was asleep when the Boeing 737 Max 9 suddenly dropped after a plug covering an unused exit door blew off.
She wrote several panicked messages to her parents, in which she said: ‘The masks are down. I am so scared right now. Please pray for me. I don’t want to die.’
Ms Vu later shared footage of the ordeal on TikTok, which showed her wearing an oxygen mask while panic is taking hold of her and other passengers nearby.
The NTSB said the lost door plug was found Sunday near Portland, Oregon, by a school teacher – for now, known only as Bob – who discovered it in his backyard and sent two photos to the safety board.
Investigators will examine the plug, which is 26 by 48 inches and weighs 63 pounds, for signs of how it broke free.
The flight that was set out to arrive at Ontario International in California turned back around after the plug door came off on Friday night
The aircraft involved rolled off the assembly line and received its certification two months ago, according to online FAA records.
It had been on 145 flights since entering commercial service November 11, said FlightRadar24, another tracking service. The flight from Portland was the aircraft’s third of the day.
The Max is the newest version of Boeing’s venerable 737, a twin-engine, single-aisle plane frequently used on U.S. domestic flights. The plane went into service in May 2017.
Two Max 8 jets crashed in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people. All Max 8 and Max 9 planes were grounded worldwide for nearly two years until Boeing made changes to an automated flight control system implicated in the crashes.
The Max has been plagued by other issues, including manufacturing flaws, concern about overheating that led FAA to tell pilots to limit use of an anti-ice system, and a possible loose bolt in the rudder system.