NEW DELHI - India’s aviation regulator on Jan 6 ordered an inspection of all Boeing 737-8 Max aircraft owned by domestic operators after a cabin panel blowout forced a new Alaska Airlines plane to make an emergency landing in the United States, news agency ANI reported.

The California-bound Boeing 737-9 Max aircraft operated by Alaska Airlines had to make an emergency landing on Jan 5 as it climbed out of Portland, Oregon.

A piece of fuselage tore off the left side of the jet, 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.

There were no immediate indications of the cause of the apparent structural failure nor any reports of injuries.

While none of India’s air operators have the Boeing 737-9 Max model in their fleets, the country’s Directorate-General of Civil Aviation has directed a “one-time inspection of the emergency exits immediately on all Boeing 737-8 Max aircraft currently operating as part of their fleet”, ANI said in a post on social media platform X.

Alaska Airlines has grounded 65 similar planes that will return to service only after precautionary maintenance and safety inspections.

US regulators on Jan 6 temporarily grounded certain Boeing 737-9 Max jetliners for safety checks.

The United States National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the incident.

Boeing has said it is looking into the incident.

“We are working to gather more information and are in contact with our airline customer,” Boeing said. REUTERS