Design flaws not suspected ‘at this time’ with Boeing Max 9 jets, investigators say

Boeing faces fresh scrutiny after door panel blows out of brand new plane, leaving a hole the size of a refrigerator'

US aviation investigators were on the ground in Oregon on Sunday trying to figure out what caused a door panel to blow out of a brand new Boeing passenger jet just minutes after takeoff, forcing pilots to make an emergency landing with a hole the size of a refrigerator" in the side of the plane.

The American jet maker was facing fresh scrutiny as regulators temporarily grounded the Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft after a section of a plugged exit door on an Alaska Airlines flight detached 16,000ft (4,877 meters) above Portland, Oregon, on Friday with 171 passengers and six crew on board. The weeks-old plane had been modified, requiring fewer emergency exits because it had fewer seats.