Los Angeles, US, Jan 8 (EFE).- Alaska Airlines and United Airlines have found "some loose hardware" on Boeing's 737 Max 9 planes after one of the aircraft model lost part of its fuselage mid-flight last week.

"Initial reports from our technicians indicate some loose hardware was visible on some aircraft," the Washington-based Alaska Airlines said in a statement.

The airline did not elaborate on the findings but said a "thorough inspection" will be carried out in accordance with the requirements of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

United Airlines also reported that it found loose bolts on its Boeing 737 Max 9 planes.

"We have found cases that appear to relate to installation issues in the door plug, for example, bolts that needed additional tightening," United Airlines said in a statement.

United Airlines is the largest operator of Boeing 737 Max 9s, with 79 of these aircraft in its fleet, while Alaska Airlines has 65.

The Alaska Airlines plane that suffered the incident on Friday lost the panel used to seal a gap designed to accommodate an additional emergency door at almost 5,000 meters above sea level.

The plane returned to Portland in the northwestern state of Oregon a few minutes after take off, without any serious injuries.

The panel was found on Sunday by a school teacher in the backyard of his Portland home.

The president of the National Transportation Safety Board (NSTB), Jennifer Homendy, said the panel will help advance the investigation to find the cause of the emergency.

Following the incident, the FAA ordered the immediate grounding of all 737 Max 9s with the same configuration as the Alaska Airlines plane for inspections.

In total, there are 215 of these aircraft in service around the world.

The incident has again brought the Boeing 737 Max aircraft into scrutiny.

The 737 Max series faced global grounding for approximately two years following two accidents involving the 737 Max 8 model, leading to 346 deaths in Indonesia and Ethiopia in 2019 and 2020.

Investigations into these incidents revealed that the flight control software provided incorrect information, causing the aircraft to assume a descent position despite attempts by pilots to counteract the erroneous instructions. EFE amv

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