Boeing faces new questions about the 737 Max after a plane suffers a gaping hole in its side

By DAVID KOENIG
AP Airlines Writer

The emergency landing of a Boeing 737 Max jetliner with a gaping hole in its side is renewing safety concerns about the planes and creating new headaches for Boeing. And now the Federal Aviation Administration is ordering similar planes to be grounded for emergency inspections. A fuselage panel blew out Friday on an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 just after takeoff from Portland, Oregon. Miraculously none of the 177 passengers and crew were hurt. Hours after the terrifying incident, Alaska Airlines announced that it would ground its entire fleet of 65 Max 9s for inspections. A slightly smaller version of the Max was involved in crashes that killed 346 people in 2018 and 2019.