FAA grounds 171 Boeing planes after mid-air blowout

The US airline regulator has ordered the temporary grounding of some Boeing 737 Max 9 jets after an outer section of one of the planes fell off during an Alaska Airlines flight. The Federal Aviation Administration said the inspections will affect 171 planes. In a statement, the FAA said it "Will order the temporary grounding of certain Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft operated by US airlines or in US territory". The Alaska Airlines flight to Ontario, California, had reached 16,000ft when it began its emergency descent, according to flight tracking data. Evan Smith, one of the 171 passengers on board, said: "There was a really loud bang towards the left rear of the plane and a woosh noise - and all the air masks dropped."They said there was a kid in that row who had his shirt sucked off him and out of the plane and his mother was holding onto him to make sure he didn't go with it.

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