The US airline regulator has ordered the grounding of more than 170 Boeing 737 MAX IX passenger aircraft after a window and section of a fuselage blew out in midair during a flight. The Alaska Airlines plane had 177 people on board and was at 16,000 feet when it happened. The pilot made an emergency landing and no one on board was hurt. Here, the Civil Aviation Authority says safety inspections need to be carried out before the planes can enter UK airspace. Graham Satchell has this report.

Pictures taken by a passenger on board Flight 12:82, not long after takeoff. Look closely and you can see a hole in the side of the plane. It looks like a window panel has been blown out. This is the pilot talking to air traffic control.

Yes, we are in emergency. We are depressurized. We do need to return back to. We have 177 passengers.

More pictures, again taken by passengers, show the full extent of the damage in what was a terrifying experience for those on board.

All of a sudden, I heard a big bang, and I didn't know exactly what was going on, But I looked up and the oxygen masks were hanging from the ceiling. Then I looked to my left and there's this huge chunk part of the airplane just missing.

There was a kid in that row who his shirt was sucked off him, and of the claim, and his mother was holding on to him to make sure he didn't go with it.

This is the latest incident involving Boeing's best-selling model launched back in 2015. In October 2018, a 737 MAX operated by Indonesian airline Lionair crashed shortly after takeoff, killing all 189 on board. Five months later, in March 2019, an Ethiopian airline, 737 MAX, was involved in a similar crash, killing all 157 passengers. That The incident led to all Boeing 737 MAXes being grounded by the US regulator, the Federal Aviation Authority, for the next 20 months. After this latest incident, Alaska Airlines grounded all 65 of their 737 max 9 fleet for inspection. A quarter being given a clean bill of health tonight.

Just 20 minutes after takeoff, Flight 1282 made an emergency landing back at Portland International Airport in Oregon. Tonight, the US Federal Aviation Authority has ordered the temporary grounding of 171 Boeing 737 MAX IXs as investigators try to work out exactly what happened. Boeing has said it will cooperate with any investigation. Graham Satchell, BBC News.