A young boy sitting by the window of an Alaska Airlines plane that blew off had to be “dragged back” inside, according to passengers. 

Airlines Alaska has grounded all its Boeing 737-9 flights after a window and piece of fuselage of a plane blew off in mid-air. 

The incident happened roughly five minutes after take-off from Portland. Video footage shows a huge hole in the side of the aircraft as it made an emergency landing in Oregon. 

#AlaskaAirlines B737-9 Max flight makes an emergency landing after window blows out mid-flight.

The aircraft landed safely without any casualties.

The airline said it would "temporarily" ground all 65 of its 737 Max 9 aircraft to conduct inspections.

This is a significant… pic.twitter.com/Pkk7XBoB1b

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Passenger Elizabeth Le said a mother and son were sitting closest to the window when it blew off the plane. 

“The mom had to grab onto her son and drag him back into the plane,” she said. 

“I can’t even imagine how that felt, and the son’s shirt was completely blown off.” 

Passenger Jessica Montoya also said a “guy’s shirt was sucked” out of the plane, along with his phone. 

“We heard this pop and the oxygen masks came down,” she described. 

“We could see debris flying in.” 

Alaska Airlines

Alaska Airlines said the plane landed safely with 171 passengers and six crew members. 

"While this type of occurrence is rare, our flight crew was trained and prepared to safely manage the situation,” it said. 

Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci said the company has decided to ground all Boeing MAX-9s for maintenance and safety inspections. 

“We anticipate all inspections will be completed in the next few days,” he said. 

"We are working with Boeing and regulators to understand what occurred tonight and will share updates as more information is available. 

"My heart goes out to those who were on this flight - I am so sorry for what you experienced.” 

Local authorities have reported no one is seriously hurt. 

Mr Minicucci said staff in Portland are assisting passengers who are grounded at the airport.