Indonesia temporarily grounds Boeing 737-9 Max planes after Alaska Airlines incident

JAKARTA -- The Indonesian government said Monday that it has temporarily grounded the operation of Boeing 737-9 Max aircraft, totaling three units, since the last weekend in the country, following the Alaska Airlines incident.

The three units of Boeing 737-9 Max aircraft are operated under the country's budget airline Lion Air.

"Based on the review and evaluation by the Ministry of Transportation and with a coordination with Lion Air, we have decided to temporarily ground Boeing 737-9 Max aircraft since last Saturday until further developments," Director General of Civil Aviation under the Ministry of Transportation, Kristi Endah Murni, said in a statement.

She said that the decision also followed the ban by the United States Federal Aviation Administration on hundreds of Boeing 737-9 Max aircraft from flying.

The Alaska Airlines' Boeing 737-9 Max aircraft was involved in an incident of an in-flight departure of a mid-cabin door plug last Friday, which resulted in rapid decompression of the airplane.

Murni said that the ministry will continue to monitor the situation and will provide further information as the situation develops.

"The security and safety of flight operations remain our priorities," Kristi said.