FAA orders grounding of certain Boeing 737 Max 9 planes after Alaska Airlines incident

The first Alaska Airlines passenger flight on a Boeing 737-9 Max airplane takes off on a flight to San Diego from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Seattle on March 1, 2021. (Ted S. Warren/AP)

The Federal Aviation Administration on Saturday ordered the grounding and immediate inspection of about 171 Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft worldwide after a mid-flight emergency late Friday involving one of the planes operated by Alaska Airlines.

"The FAA is requiring immediate inspections of certain Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes before they can return to flight," the agency's administrator Mike Whitaker said in a statement.