(Yicai) Jan. 8 -- No Chinese airlines have Boeing 737 Max 9 planes, Yicai has learned after US authorities grounded the jets for safety checks following a fuselage panel blowout that forced an Alaska Airlines flight to make an emergency landing last week.

Flight AS1282 was climbing to an altitude of about 16,000 feet on Jan. 5 when an emergency hatch panel blew out. The US Federal Aviation Administration issued an emergency airworthiness directive yesterday, temporarily grounding all 171 737 Max 9s that operate within US territory.

The incident was extremely rare, industry insiders told Yicai.

The best-selling 737 Max, which was grounded globally in 2019 due to two fatal crashes, resumed commercial passenger operations in the Chinese mainland last January. And Boeing China said on WeChat last month that all 737 Max jets in the country were back at work and it had delivered new aircraft to Chinese customers.

An industry expert told Yicai that the emergency hatch was designed to facilitate the rapid evacuation of passengers from the densely seated extended version of the Boeing 737 series, allowing them to evacuate within 90 seconds. But airlines have the option not to use the hatch, sealing it so it appears to be a normal cabin wall, the person added.

There was no emergency handle that could have been touched by mistake, noted Captain Chen Jianguo. Media reports speculate that it is highly likely that the issue with the aircraft occurred during manufacturing or the installation process before it was delivered.

There are about 290 undelivered Boeing aircraft, of which nearly half have not been yet been handed over to Chinese customers, according to data the plane manufacturer released in 2022. 

Hong Kong’s Greater Bay Area Airlines, which announced an order for 15 Boeing 737 Max 9s last March, said on WeChat yesterday that the part that broke away from the fuselage of the Alaskan Airlines plane differed from the emergency hatch design on the planes it has ordered. The company will work closely with Boeing to understand and follow up on the situation, it added.

Editors: Shi Yi, Martin Kadiev