Turkish Airlines grounds Boeing 737 MAX 9 jets for checks

Turkish Airlines said Sunday that it would ground five Boeing 737 MAX 9 jets in its fleet for inspections after a panel blew out of one of the planes in midair in the US, forcing an emergency landing.

The Alaska Airlines scare over Oregon on Friday prompted the US Federal Aviation Administration to order immediate inspections of around 171 of the jets operated worldwide.

A sealed-over door panel had opened and come off mid-flight, prompting the cabin to suddenly lose pressure.

“In light of the incident with the Boeing 737 MAX 9 operated by Alaska Airlines, five Boeing 737 MAX 9 in the Turkish Airlines fleet have been recalled for checks as a security precaution,” the airline said in a statement.

They will be grounded “where they are to land”, it added.

Alaska and United Airlines, which has the world’s largest fleet of 737 MAX 9s, have also grounded their planes for checks, leading to dozens of flight cancellations.

Aeromexico and Panamanian carrier Copa Airlines also said they had grounded the planes affected by the FAA order, while Icelandair said none of its 737 MAX 9s had the plane configuration specified in the FAA grounding order.