SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Travelers in San Diego expressed concern and anxiety following the recent incident involving an Alaska Airlines flight.
Francisco Bojorge, who arrived from Portland, said “I saw it on the news and I thought oh my god I hope that doesn’t happen to me on the way back."
“I just hope it works and that I don’t die, you know,” said Amy Zhang, a passenger from San Francisco.
The unsettling incident involved a Boeing 737 Max 9, where a portion of the plane blew off during the flight, prompting an emergency landing.
“We looked into it this morning too because we were worried maybe our plane was a MAX 9,” said Emma Glanzer, another traveler.
In response to the incident, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) temporarily grounded 171 MAX 9 planes, with United and Alaska Airlines operating the majority of them.
Read more: FAA grounds Boeing 737 Max 9 after plane wall detached midair
“It’s been twenty-minute delays throughout the day," Glanzer said. "Now it’s an hour.”
As of Saturday after 5 p.m., only one out of twenty-one Alaska Airlines flights arrived to San Diego on time, and almost half of their thirteen departures were delayed.
“We’re worried it might get delayed even later," Glanzer said. "We wont get into Spokane until 11:30 p.m. now.”
Former San Diego pilot Joe Graham expects the disruptions to continue for the next few days.
“They can combine flights. They’ll deal with it. There will be some rescheduling but it's not going to be a big deal,” Graham said.
The FAA said all planes will need safety and maintenance inspections before they can resume service.
Alaska Airlines said a third of their planes have already been inspected and returned to service. It could take a few more days before the remaining planes are cleared for operation.
