america s national national transportation safety board is investigating the incident. in the past hour, alaska airlines said inspections on more than a quarter of their 737 9 fleet have been completed with no concerning findings. simonjones reports. relief for all 177 passengers and crew on board to be back on the tarmac after a midair emergency. the plane forced to land with a hole in its side and a window missing. the pilot recorded earlier outlining to air traffic control the severity of the situation. yes, we are emergency. we are de pressurised, but we do need to return back. we have 177 passengers. it happened as the plane was 35 minutes into its flight to california. i look up, and the oxygen masks were hanging from the ceiling. and then i looked to my left and there s this huge chunk, part of the airplane, just, like missing.
huge crater. we have pictures of the creator right there. you can see how big that crater is also said to have damaged several apartment buildings. cnn s ben wedeman is in key for us this morning with the latest the russians call it a midair emergency and accident, ben. well perhaps it was john, but it certainly isn t embarrassing one. it happened at 15 minutes after 10 pm last night when an s u 34 twin engine fighter bomber dropped some sort of bomb. we don t know what kind of on the street and very busy street in the middle of belgorod. it s a city of 400,000 people. you see the bomb go off on the sidewalk. the strength of the blast caused a car to fly up and land on an adjacent roof, according to the mayor of that city, two women were injured, and now the ukrainians and reacting. one official put out a statement
but from russia s own air force , a state news agency says a russian fighter jet dropped what it called aviation munition during a midair emergency. the weapons fell near the center of the city of belgorod, causing a large explosion. the blast caused a crater 40 m wide, knocking down electricity poles and damaging an apartment building. one car was flipped over and thrown to the roof of a nearby store. russian officials say two women were injured and some residents were moved out of their homes because of the damage. in about an hour from now. ukraine s allies begin a meeting to discuss next steps in providing assistance to kiev. you asked defense secretary lloyd austin will host the 11th meeting of the ukraine defense contact group will be held at the ramstein air base in germany , defense ministers and other officials from more than 50 countries will also be there. our claire sebastian is keeping an eye on those developments. and she joins us now from london . so claire, take us thro
one theory is that the cartel may have believed that they were haitian smugglers encroaching on their turf. lester. all right, gabe gutierrez tonight, thank you. now to the terrifying new video from that midair emergency we told you about last evening. a man allegedly threatened to kill other passengers then stabbed a flight attendant on a packed plane. here s tom costello. reporter: united flight 2609 was just 45 minutes from landing in boston. i will kill every man on this plane. reporter: when prosecutors say 32-year-old francisco torres went on an incoherent rant after trying to open one of the plane s emergency exits. i m taking over this plane. reporter: then rushing and stabbing a flight attendant with a spoon he had broken in the lavatory. fellow passengers quickly tackled and subdued him. there was like four to six guys, you know, on him on the ground. reporter: torres now facing federal charges and up to life in prison if convicted. the latest midair inciden