Indonesia temporarily suspends Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft operations

In a statement, Indonesian Transport Ministry spokeswoman Adita Irawati said all three Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft owned by the country have been grounded since January 6 until further notice.

According to Mr. Adita, Lion Air planes have type II emergency exits in the middle of the cabin, while the emergency exits on Alaska Airlines planes have door latches.

Mr. Adita stated that the Indonesian Ministry of Transport will coordinate with the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), aircraft manufacturer Boeing and airline Lion Air to monitor the situation, and affirmed that the ministry's priority is safety.

Lion Air has not yet commented on the above information.

Following the incident where an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 window burst and forced an emergency landing, the FAA said it is requiring immediate inspections of all Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft before allowing the aircraft to return to service. The inspection will take between 4 and 8 hours for each aircraft. According to the FAA, this decision is to ensure passenger safety.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the crash. FAA online records show the Boeing 737-9 MAX was certified two months ago.

Boeing's 737 MAX planes were grounded worldwide after two MAX 8 crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed a total of 346 people. The FAA only allowed the planes to fly again after Boeing made changes to its flight control system.