SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — An Alaska Airlines flight from Seattle to San Diego was the first flight featuring the Boeing 737 Max 9 after a panel blew out of the side of one of the planes earlier this month.
The Friday afternoon flight marked the return to service after Alaska Airlines grounded all 65 of that particular jet model after a door plug detached from a 737 Max 9 nearly 16,000 feet in the air above Oregon on Jan. 5. A day after the incident, the FAA grounded all Max 9s in the country.
FAA administrator Mike Whitaker said his agency's thorough review of the jets following the incident gives him confidence that the 737 Max 9s will be safe, as long as the new inspection process is followed.
A message posted on Alaska Airline’s website Friday morning said it was “resuming our full flight schedule” and that the company’s “Boeing 737-MAX aircraft have passed inspection and returned to service.”
Alaska Airlines flight 1146 was delayed by a little over an hour, departing Seattle at 3:24 p.m. By 6:10 p.m., the plane landed safely in San Diego.
ABC 10News spoke to several passengers who were on the flight. Most of them said it was a smooth experience, and some didn't realize they were on the first Max 9 back in service.
"It was good. Honestly, I didn't know when I showed up that it was going to be the first 737 Max 9 going back up there," says passenger Clayton Espinosa. "Everything was good, flight was nice and smooth. We landed here safely obviously. I'm happy it all worked out good."
"It was a great flight. It was smooth," one woman said. "No I didn't hear a thing. I didn't realize [it was a Max 9] until you told me."
"We didn't notice any empty seats actually. We were in the exit lane too... We were surprised it was delayed like 30 to 40 minutes — apart from that pretty uneventful," a young man said.
10News asked the young man if he would've followed through with his travel plans if the airline indicated during booking that the flight was on a Max 9.
"I don't think I would've, like, not flown, but I could see people being apprehensive about it... I was a little surprised that they waited to say, but no, it doesn't concern me because I do feel like a plane getting that much attention it probably, hopefully, passed all the inspections this time."
United Airlines is the only other airline in the U.S. that uses Boeing's 737 Max 9, and its expected to return the planes to service beginning Sunday.
