Türkiye's national flag carrier Turkish Airlines (THY) announced Sunday that it would ground five Boeing 737 MAX 9 jets in its fleet for inspections following an incident in the U.S. after a panel blew out of one of the Alaska Airlines planes in midair, evoking an emergency landing.
The Alaska Airlines scare over Oregon on Friday prompted the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to order immediate inspections of around 171 of the jets operated worldwide.
A sealed-over door panel had opened and came off mid-flight, prompting the cabin to lose pressure suddenly.
"In light of the incident with the Boeing 737 MAX 9 operated by Alaska Airlines, five Boeing 737 MAX 9 in the Turkish Airlines fleet have been recalled for checks as a security precaution," the airline said in a statement.
They will be grounded "where they are to land", it added.
Alaska and United Airlines, which has the world's largest fleet of 737 MAX 9s, have also grounded their planes for checks, leading to dozens of flight cancellations.
Aeromexico and Panamanian carrier Copa Airlines also said they had grounded the planes affected by the FAA order. In contrast, Icelandair said none of its 737 MAX 9s had the plane configuration specified in the FAA grounding order.
