What happened on the Alaska Airlines flight? What do we know about the hole in the plane?

(CNN) — It happened in an instant: the Boeing 737 Max-9 was gaining altitude after taking off from Portland. Then there was an explosion, followed by a rush of air and a scream as a refrigerator-sized hole ripped through the side of the 220-passenger plane.

When part of the fuselage exploded shortly after takeoff, the child’s shirt was sucked through his torso and out through the hole. Some passengers screamed and cried, texting loved ones as air rushed through the plane and oxygen masks fell from the ceiling.

Nick Hoch, a 33-year-old passenger who was on the plane Friday, called the experience “shocking,” “tense” and “creepy” in a phone interview with CNN. “The mist or the cloud hit my face,” he said.

After the initial “boom,” he said the plane “kind of shook.” Oxygen masks dropped, everyone put them on and said they felt messed up.

“I was absolutely shocked and scared, and I think other people were very upset as well.”

Hoch said he was seated on the left side of the plane, two rows in front of where the panel exploded. “There were close people I talked to who had their AirPods come out of their ears,” he said.

Shortly after part of the plane exploded, Hoch said, people were already “remarkably quiet,” quietly listening to the flight crew.

According to FlightAware, the flight from Portland, Oregon to Ontario, California reached an altitude of 16,000 feet at 5:07 p.m.

Passenger Kyle Rinker told CNN that shortly after takeoff, a panel, including a window, fell. “It was really sudden. When it got to the height the window/wall fell away.”

“We want to land,” the pilot told air traffic control, according to a recording posted on liveatc.net. “We are declaring an emergency. We need to go below 10,000.”

After receiving clearance to descend to a lower altitude, the pilot told air traffic control, “We’re in an emergency, we’re frustrated, we need to turn back, we have 177 passengers. Fuel is eighteen eight.”

The plane landed safely at the airport about 20 minutes later, with no serious injuries among its 171 passengers and six crew members.

Aircraft under review

Alaska Airlines temporarily grounded the rest of its Boeing 737-9 Max fleet and said it was inspecting security doors on all its planes. This is a part of the aircraft fuselage that the manufacturer can place in place of the emergency exit door depending on the configuration requested by the airline.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reported on Saturday that it has grounded several aircraft of this model for inspections, affecting 171 vehicles used by airlines.

Alaska Airlines said it had inspected 18 of the Boeing 737 Max 9s in its fleet on Saturday and returned them to service, but walked back hours later, saying those planes were grounded “until their details are confirmed with the FAA.” will be retired.” Possible additional maintenance work. “

Passenger Emma Wu said passengers were comforting each other during Friday’s incident.

“The flight attendant even came over and told me everything was going to be okay,” Wu told CNN. “The fact that everyone was a little scared and she took that time to make me feel like I was the only passenger… Honestly, that was really sweet.”

As King’s video shows, passengers applauded as the plane landed.

Some passengers stood up. The flight attendant reminded them to remain seated.

A man can be heard saying: “There’s a hole in the plane. What is this?”

CNN’s Pete Munten and Andy Rose contributed to this report.