WASHINGTON: The top US aviation regulator ordered the temporary grounding of certain Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft for safety checks following a cabin panel blowout late Friday (Jan 5) that forced a brand-new airplane operated by Alaska Airlines to make an emergency landing. A piece of fuselage tore off the left side of the jet operated by Alaska Airlines as it climbed following takeoff from Portland, Oregon, en route to Ontario, California, forcing pilots to turn back and land safely with all 171 passengers and six crew on board. The plane had been in service for just eight weeks. The FAA's decision falls well short of a full indefinite safety ban comparable to the grounding of all MAX-family jets almost five years ago, but it deals a new blow to Boeing as it tries to recover from back-to-back crises over safety and the pandemic under massive debts. "The FAA is requiring immediate inspections of certain Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes before they can return to flight," Federal Aviation Administration chief Mike Whitaker said on Saturday. "Safety will continue to drive our decision-making as we assist the NTSB’s investigation into Alaska Airlines Flight 1282," he added, referring to the National Transport Safety Board. Boeing said it supports the decision requiring immediate inspections of 737-9 airplanes "with the same configuration as the affected airplane." The directive covers 171 planes. Alaska Airlines earlier Saturday voluntarily grounded its fleet of 65 Boeing MAX 9 jets for safety checks. As of Saturday morning, Alaska said more than a quarter of the inspections had been completed with no new issues, and those jets were resuming flights. It did not respond to a request for further comment. United Airlines said it had temporarily suspended service on about 45 Boeing 737 MAX 9 airplanes to conduct inspections. United has 79 of the aircraft, and it said 33 have already received required inspections. It expects about 60 United cancellations Saturday. Alaska and United are the only US airlines currently using the MAX 9, according to aviation data provider Cirium.