Foreign News
Alaska Airlines grounds 737 Max 9 planes after section blows out mid-air
A passenger plane lost a section of its fuselage in mid-air forcing it to make an emergency landing in the US state of Oregon.
The Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 turned back minutes into its flight to California after an outer section, including a window, fell off on Friday. There were 177 passengers and crew on board and it landed safely in Portland. The airline said it would temporarily ground all 65 of its 737 Max 9 aircraft to conduct inspections.
Boeing said it was aware of the incident and was “working to gather more information”.
The UK Civil Aviation Authority told the BBC it was “monitoring the situation very closely”.
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.”
Diego Murillo said the gap was “as wide as a refrigerator”.
Fellow passenger Elizabeth Lee added: “Part of the plane was missing and the wind was just extremely loud. but everyone was in their seats and had their belt on.”
Jessica Montoia described the flight as a “trip from hell” adding a phone was taken out of a man’s hand by the wind.
Announcing the grounding of the 65 planes, Alaska Airlines’ CEO Ben Minicucci said: “Each aircraft will be returned to service only after completion of full maintenance and safety inspections. My heart goes out to those who were on this flight – I am so sorry for what you experienced. I am so grateful for the response of our pilots and flight attendants.”
The flight to Ontario, California, had reached 16,000ft (4,876m) when it began its emergency descent, according to flight tracking data. Images sent to news outlets show the night sky visible through the gap in the fuselage, with insulation material and other debris also seen.
Other pictures show the seat closest to the affected section, a window seat that passengers said was unoccupied, leaning forward without its cushion. In an audio clip, the pilot can be heard talking to air traffic control requesting a diversion. “We are an emergency,” she said. “We are depressurised, we do need to return back.”
According to photographs, the affected area was in the back third of the plane, behind the wing and engines. The section of fuselage involved appears to be an area that can be used as an additional emergency exit door by some operators, but not by Alaska.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 “returned safely… after the crew reported a pressurisation issue”.
Boeing said a “technical team stands ready to support the investigation”. Flydubai told the BBC that its three Boeing 737 Max 9 had a “different configuration with mid-aft cabin exits” compared to the Alaska Airline planes and have completed recent safety checks. “We will follow any guidance issued by Boeing once more information is available,” a spokeswoman added.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating the incident.
The Boeing 737 Max has been described as “the most scrutinised transport aircraft in history” after a series of safety issues. The Max was grounded in March 2019 for a year-and-a-half after two of the type crashed in similar circumstances to each other killing those on board.
Aviation expert John Strickland said the Alaska Airlines incident was very different to those crashes, adding that since the 737 Max came back into service it had “an enormous safety record”. “While we know little evidence of why this section of the fuselage has come out – this has nothing to do with the aircraft being grounded for 18 months,” he told BBC News. “But, it is natural Alaska Airlines is taking a cautious approach grounding its fleet”
More recently, Boeing said it would increase the pace of 737 Max deliveries after resolving a supply error that required it to conduct lengthy inspections of new planes and its inventory, Reuters news agency reported.
About 1,300 737 Max aircraft have been delivered to customers, Boeing data shows. Last month, the FAA urged airlines to inspect Max models for a possible loose bolt in rudder control systems.
(BBC)
Egyptian authorities say 17 people are missing and 28 have been rescued after a tourist boat sank in the Red Sea.
A distress signal was received at 05:30 local time (03:30 GMT) from the Sea Story, which left port near Marsa Alam on Saturday for a five-day diving trip with 31 tourists and 14 crew, according to the governor of Red Sea province.
Maj-Gen Amr Hanafi said the survivors were found in the Wadi el-Gemal area, which is south of Marsa Alam, and that they were receiving the necessary medical care.
He added that the Egyptian Navy warship El Fateh and military aircraft were intensifying their efforts to locate the missing.
Marsa Alam is a popular destination for tourists on Egypt’s southern Red Sea coast and is surrounded by diving spots, including renowned coral reefs.
There was no immediate comment from Sea Story’s Egypt-based owner and operator, Dive Pro Liveaboard.
But its website says the vessel was built in 2022 and is 44m (144ft) long. It has four decks and 18 cabins that can accommodate up to 36 passengers.
[BBC]
Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, is under lockdown for a second day as thousands of protesters demanding the release of former prime minister Imran Khan from jail converge on the city.
His supporters are also calling for the overturning of election results they say were rigged – a claim disputed by the government.
The former PM has been detained for more than a year on various charges, but remains hugely popular despite his legal troubles and his supporters have been protesting for months.
His wife, Bushra Bibi, told supporters on Monday that the march would continue until her husband was free.
The latest rally came after Khan issued a “final call” to supporters, calling on them to stay in the capital until their demands are met.
There have been clashes between his supporters and police. The authorities have banned the protest, blocking streets with shipping containers and suspending some internet services. Schools and colleges have shut because of fears of violence.
Members of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party say they’ve been repeatedly tear gassed by the police.
The police say their officers have been injured by stones thrown by protesters. Police told the BBC that 139 people had been arrested and 14 policemen injured.
Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi is one of the leaders of the main convoy. “Until Khan comes to us, we will not end this march,” she told crowds as the rally neared the capital earlier on Monday. “I will stand till my last breath and you have to support me. This is not just about my husband but about this country and its leader,” she said.
Bushra Bibi was sentenced alongside Khan in January, but released on bail in late October.
Although Khan has now been behind bars for more than a year, he is still the dominant force of Pakistan’s opposition politics. He was voted out of power by parliament in 2022 amid reports that he had fallen out with the country’s powerful military. He denies all the charges against him, which range from corruption to instigating violence to getting married to Bushra Bibi illegally.
In February’s general election, his party was banned from standing. Independent candidates backed by the PTI unexpectedly won the most seats – but not enough to form a government.
Khan accused the two parties now in government – the PML-N and PPP – of stealing the election. The authorities deny accusations of vote tampering.
[BBC]
At least one person has died and three others have been injured after a cargo plane crashed near Vilnius airport in Lithuania in the early hours of Monday.
The Boeing 737, operated for DHL by the Spanish cargo airline Swiftair, crashed near a house as it was on its final approach for landing, local authorities said.
All 12 people have been safely evacuated from a property close to the crash site, police said.
Rescue services said all those who were on the flight from Leipzig, Germany, have been accounted for.
The aircraft departed from DHL’s hub at Leipzig Airport just after 03:00 local time (02:00 GMT) and crashed around an hour and a half later, according to data from flight-tracking website Flightradar24.
Flight operations are continuing at Vilnius airport as authorities respond to the crash, Flightradar24 said on X.
Firefighters were seen tackling smoke coming from a building 1.3 km (0.8 mile) north of the airport runway, Reuters news agency reported.
The cause of the crash is unknown and Lithuanian authorities have started an investigation.
Authorities said they do not have any data at the moment that suggests there was an explosion before the crash.
The head of Lithuania’s firefighting and emergency services unit, Renatas Pozela, said the plane was due to land at Vilnius airport and “crashed a few kilometres away”.
One person in the four-member crew died, he added.
Mr Pozela said a nearby house was “slightly damaged” and infrastructure near it caught on fire, but all residents were safely evacuated.
The plane was a Boeing 737-400, an airport spokesperson said.
Reported weather before the crash was a temperature of 0C (32F), with clouds before sunrise and winds around 30 km/h (19mph), the Associated Press reported.
The aircraft was 31 years old, AP added.
[BBC]
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