Local travelers react to Alaska Airlines announcement to ground Boeing 737 Max 9 Aircrafts

A recent emergency landing by an Alaska Airlines jet led the company to ground 18 of its Boeing 737 MAx 9 aircrafts for inspections.

On Friday, about 20-minutes into a flight form Portland to Ontario, California, an exit door and window blew off mid-air. The pilot managed to turn the plane around and made an emergency landing back in Portland. More than 100-passengers experienced the scary moment first hand, and several recieved minor injuries. Social media videos posted online quickly went viral, reaching both national and international audiences.

Alaska Airlines released a statement on the event, saying:

“Alaska’s 737-9 MAX aircraft received in-depth inspections as part of heavy maintenance checks and continued in service today until we received the FAA’s EAD. These aircraft have now also been pulled from service until details about possible additional maintenance work are confirmed with the FAA. We are in touch with the FAA to determine what, if any, further work is required before these aircraft are returned to service.”

The National Transportation Safety Board as well as the Federal Aviation Administration are both opening investigations into the incident. The FAA said it will also ground 737 Max 9 planes that operate in U.S. territory. In total, about 171 of 218 worldwide will be taken out of the skies and serviced.

Since the grounding order, at least 160 Alaska Airlines flights have been cancelled or delayed. The airline says it expects additional disruptions over the next week.

Here in the Coachella Valley, according to the Palm Springs International Airport (PSP) website, only one Alaska Airlines flight was cancelled or delayed on Sunday, however, that cancellation was likely caused by a Winter Storm that's slamming parts of the Pacific Northwest.

News Channel Three spoke to several travelers at the Palm Springs International Airport, and many of them seemed indifferent towards the viral video, unconcerned about the Boeing's groundings.

"I'm not worried about the Alaska Airlines thing," said one passenger who was about to fly out to Arizona. "I don't think you can blame the airline, but Boeing needs to look into it, absolutely."

Other travelers were extremely concerned.

Sania and Erum flew into town from Texas for a bachelorette party. They said the video made them feel uneasy about flying on the jetliner in the future.

“That was so scary. So scary," said Sania. "I have never boarded Alaskan but I after watching that video, I don't think that would.”

Erum felt the same way, although she didn't see the video until after landing in California, she said she would be checking her plane tickets to make sure she doesn't book a flight on a Boeing 737 Max, regardless of the airline.

“I would be scared to be on this plane. Especially if I saw that video before I came here," Erum said. When asked about how safe she thought the aircrafts were, she said she's never had to think about it until now.

"I didn't think it was a concern, because I've never seen that happen before. Especially on a major airline.”

Another passenger, Kristopher Bolser, came in to visit his brother from Chicago. He believes the situation could have been much worse.

"At least it happened when they just got in the air and not an hour or two hours into their flight," Bolser said. Bolser also noted he will no longer be booking with Alaska after seeing the video. "I got lucky. I didn't come in on one of those planes today. I came in on a smaller one. So I kind of got lucky but hopefully I don't get on one when I have to fly home next week. For me, I'd probably stick with United or Delta Airlines.”

Other Southern California airports did experience cancelations because of the incident. Several Alaska Airlines travelers headed to San Diego are experiencing delays, while other flights were cancelled entirely Sunday. According to the San Diego International Airport’s (SAN) flight status tracker, five flights were delayed and another eight were cancelled on January 7th. All of the flights were incoming flights.

The Boeing Max aircraft has had several issues that prompted groundings in the past, but the FAA does not believe any of the former incidents are related to Friday's.