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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Business
Elias Visontay Transport and urban affairs reporter

The US has grounded Boeing 737 Max 9 planes. What does this mean for Australian skies?

Boeing United States Australia CASA Bonza Virgin Australia
An Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-9 Max plane. A window panel blew out on a similar jet shortly after takeoff from Portland on Friday. No Australian airlines have taken delivery of a Max 9 and no international carriers fly the single-aisle plane on Australian routes.
An Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-9 Max plane. A window panel blew out on a similar jet shortly after takeoff from Portland on Friday. No Australian airlines have taken delivery of a Max 9 and no international carriers fly the single-aisle plane on Australian routes. Photograph: Ted S Warren/AP

A directive to ground almost 200 near-new planes in the United States is not set to affect Australian skies – for now at least.

On Saturday, 171 of Boeing’s 737 Max 9 planes were grounded after a door panel blew out shortly after a flight in the US took off. In response, the US’s Federal Aviation Administration ordered inspections of the component that blew out of an Alaskan Airlines plane on Friday, forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing back at Portland airport minutes after it departed.

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