Canadian airlines say they donº¦Ðß²ÝÑо¿Ëù™t fly the Boeing 737-9 Max jetliners that U.S. regulators have grounded after an Alaska Airlines plane suffered a blowout while in flight.
The Alaska Airlines 737-9 Max jetliner blew out a window and a portion of its fuselage shortly after takeoff nearly five kilometres above Oregon late Friday, creating a gaping hole that forced the pilots to make an emergency landing as its 174 passengers and six crew members donned oxygen masks.
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Airlines including Air Canada, WestJet, Flair Airlines and Lynx Air all say they fly the 737-8 Max jetliner.
Air Canada says its 40 aircraft in the 737-8 Max series donº¦Ðß²ÝÑо¿Ëù™t have the mid-cabin exit door configuration of the Max 9, adding the aircraft have performed very reliably.
WestJet spokeswoman Julia Kaiser says the airlineº¦Ðß²ÝÑо¿Ëù™s Max 8 planes also donº¦Ðß²ÝÑо¿Ëù™t have the same door in question in the Alaska Airlines incident, and the company is in constant communication with Boeing to make sure there are no implications to the Max 8 fleet.
Transport Canada grounded Boeing 737 Max aircraft in the country in March 2019 following two overseas crashes that left 346 people dead, but the order was lifted in January 2021.
º¦Ðß²ÝÑо¿Ëù” With files from The Associated Press
The Canadian Press