The top US aviation regulator ordered some Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes to be grounded temporarily for safety checks after a cabin panel explosion late Friday forced a brand new Alaska Airlines plane to make an emergency landing.

A piece of fuselage tore off the left side of an Alaska Airlines ( ALK.N ) jet as it took off from Portland, Ore., en route to Ontario, Calif., forcing the pilots to turn back and land safely with 171 passengers on board. and six crew members on board. The plane had only been in service for eight weeks.

“The FAA is requiring immediate inspections of certain Boeing 737 MAX 9 airplanes before they can return to flight,” Federal Aviation Administration chief Mike Whitaker said Saturday. “Safety will continue to be at the center of our decision-making as we assist the NTSB’s investigation of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282,” he added, referring to the National Transportation Safety Board.

Boeing ( BA.N ) said it supported the decision requiring immediate inspections of 737-9 planes. The directive covers 171 airplanes.

Alaska Airlines ( ALK.N ) earlier on Saturday voluntarily grounded its fleet of 65 Boeing MAX 9 ( BA.N ) planes for safety checks. On Saturday morning, Alaska said more than a quarter of the inspections had been completed without new problems and that the aircraft in question were again available to fly.

Terror in the air for Alaska Airlines passengers

The terror was experienced by the 171 passengers of Alaska Airlines flight 1282 from Portland, Oregon to Ontario, California.

The aircraft made an emergency landing on Friday night after a section of the plane detached while in the air.

@strawberr.vy Girls’ trip turned into emergency landing trip… #alaska #alaskaair ♬ original sound – vy 🍓

The aircraft departed Portland International Airport at 4:52 p.m. and returned to Portland shortly before 5:30 p.m.

Videos on social media show a window being detached.

The aircraft reached about 16,000 feet six minutes after takeoff before beginning its descent, according to the BBC.

In a statement to CBS News, Alaska Airlines said Flight No. 1282 “had an incident this afternoon shortly after departure” and “landed safely” in Portland, but did not provide further details.

“The safety of our guests and employees is always our top prioritytherefore, while these types of incidents are rare, our flight crew were trained and prepared to safely handle the situation,” the airline said in a statement, adding: “We are investigating what happened and will share more information as it becomes available.” .

@vee_wins bffr @Alaska Airlines #alaskaair #planemalfunction ♬ Funny – Gold-Tiger

Immediately after the incident, the pilot called the air traffic controller to report the problem. “We are declaring a state of emergency,” said the pilot. “We have to get down to 10,000 (feet).”

According to information from the Daily Mail, passengers reported that after the decompression caused in the cabin, a child’s shirt was torn while the mobile phones were hurled.

Another passenger said a mother was trying to hold her child in his seat.

Fortunately though no injuries were reported.