Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 plane arrives in San Diego airport

SAN DIEGO, Calif. (NBC, KYMA/KECY) - Alaska Airlines' first Boeing 737 Max 9 flight after the Federal Aviation Association (FAA) approved inspection guidance arrived in San Diego on Friday.

Flight 1146 took off from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport just before 4:00pm.

It was the airline's first Max 9 flight since the FAA grounded the aircraft nearly three weeks ago after a door plug blew out from the plane's side panel on a Portland flight.

The agency later approved an inspection and maintenance process for the planes on January 24, clearing the way for airlines to resume flying Max 9s.

Alaska Airlines said the flight that left Seattle was just one of three of their Max 9 aircrafts expected to be operating on Friday.

Additionally, the airline expects inspections on its entire fleet of Max 9 jets to be completed by the end of next week.