Transport

Plane Door Falls Off During US Domestic Flight, Airline Apologises & Grounds Aircraft

Alaska Airlines Plane Door Falls Off Mid-Air, Flight Returns To Airport Safely

Passengers on a domestic flight in the United States (US) were alarmed when a portion of the plane fuselage blew out, minutes after takeoff. The incident prompted the pilots to make an emergency landing.

Source: @AlexFromEW on X

The airline has apologised and grounded all its aircraft of the same model.

Alaska Airlines plane experiences ‘incident’

In a post on X on Saturday (6 Jan) — 5 Jan in the US — Alaska Airlines informed the public that there had been an “incident” involving AS1282.

Source: @AlaskaAir on X

The flight is a short one that takes passengers from Portland, in the US state of Oregon, to Ontario in California, according to FlightRadar24. The journey usually takes less than two hours.

About an hour later, Alaska Airlines updated that AS1282 had experienced the “incident” soon after departure.

Source: @AlaskaAir on X

Thankfully, the plane landed back in Portland safely, with 171 passengers and six crew members on board.

Plane door falls off 20 minutes after take-off

While the airline was vague about the incident, a passenger on board the flight revealed the details on TikTok.

She said  a part of the plane flew off, a few minutes into the flight.

The video she posted showed a gaping hole in the plane’s body, with two passengers sitting behind it appearing remarkably calm.

Source: @strawberr.vy on TikTok

A close-up left no doubt that the plane was in mid-air as the clear night sky and stars were visible through the hole. The wind was blowing through, ruffling through passengers’ hair.

 

Source: @strawberr.vy on TikTok

Oxygen masks had also been deployed, with passengers holding them to their faces.

Source: @strawberr.vy on TikTok

In another TikTok video, a passenger said the “wall” of the plane flew off while the aircraft was in the air.

Source: @vee_wins on TikTok

According to FlightRadar24, the part that fell off was a rear mid-cabin exit door.

The plane, which is a Boeing 737 MAX 9, has an exit door after the wings but before the rear exit door.

Source: @flightradar24 on X

Alaska Airlines doesn’t activate the rear mid-cabin exit door, which is supposed to be permanently “plugged”.

However, this wasn’t the case with flight AS1282.

Source: @avgeekjake on X

Plane makes emergency landing after door falls off

The plane turned around and flew back to Portland for an emergency landing, said the first passenger.

Source: @strawberr.vy on TikTok

According to FlightRadar24, the plane circled back and landed about an hour after take-off.

Following the aircraft’s safe landing, the passenger said everybody on the plane was okay.

Thankfully, there was nobody seated next to the section that fell off, she added.

Passenger says it was ‘scary as hell’

Mr Kyle Rinker, another passenger on the plane, said on X that it was “scary as hell” as he was right across from the hole.

Source: @Kyrinker on X

When asked whether anything was sucked out of the hole, he said some items belonging to passengers in the two or three rows around it were lost to the void.

A passenger told CBS News that the shirt of a child sitting in that row was sucked out of the plane. His mother reportedly had to hold on to him to make sure the child didn’t get sucked out, too.

Mr Rinker confirmed that nobody was seated right next to the hole. He said two people who were supposed to have sat there missed the plane — a blessing in disguise.

Source: @Kyrinker on X

Plane was just 2 months old

Concerningly, the plane was just over two months old, noted FlightRadar24.

It was delivered to Alaska Airlines from Boeing on 31 Oct 2023 and entered commercial service on 11 Nov 2023.

Since then, it accumulated 145 flights, including the one where the door fell off.

Source: @petemuntean on X

AS1282 was its third flight of the day and second take-off, having flown from San Diego to New York overnight and then on to Portland earlier that day.

Airline apologises & grounds planes

Later on Saturday (6 Jan), Alaska Airlines Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ben Minicucci said in a statement on X that it would be grounding its entire fleet of Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft following the incident.

Source: @AlaskaAir on X

That amounts to 65 planes, he added. They’ll be returned to service only after being fully inspected.

He also apologised to the passengers on the flight and thanked the crew and ground teams for their response.

About eight hours later, the airline said that inspections on more than a quarter of the grounded plane were complete.

“No concerning findings” were made, so they will return to service, they added.

US authorities ground Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes

However, the incident has already created ripples across the aviation industry.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which regulates civil aviation in the country, has ordered the grounding of Boeing 737 MAX 9 operated by US airlines or in US territory.

Source: @FAANews on X

The temporary grounding, which affects about 171 planes across the world, will require operators to inspect their planes before they can return to the skies.

Also read: US Flight Turns Back After Passenger Has Diarrhoea All Over Plane Aisle, Biohazard Issue Reported

Have news you must share? Get in touch with us via email at news@mustsharenews.com.

Featured image adapted from @AlexFromEW on X and @avgeekjake on X.

Jeremy Lee

Analog person making do with a digital world.

Recent Posts

Continuous heavy traffic expected at S’pore-JB checkpoints till end of 2024: ICA

A record of more than 553,000 travellers crossed both checkpoints on 13 Dec.

22 Dec 2024, 7:25 pm

H5N1 poses ‘highest risk’ of becoming next pandemic, S’pore health authorities monitoring situation

There has been no year-end Covid-19 wave, as had been expected.

22 Dec 2024, 6:42 pm

Wagyu beef worth S$5,700 found in car entering JB from S’pore, M’sian driver arrested

The beef was imported without a veterinary health certificate and halal certification.

22 Dec 2024, 5:40 pm

Long queue forms at Jalan Besar Stadium for tickets to ASEAN Championship semi-final

One fan started queueing as early as 7am.

22 Dec 2024, 4:50 pm

Toys“R”Us in Japan sends parcels in plain boxes before Christmas, praised for protecting ‘Santa’s surprise’

The company made the change after parents said they wanted to make sure their gifts…

22 Dec 2024, 4:36 pm

Google Maps helps Spanish police arrest murder suspects caught transporting corpse on Street View

An incredible twist of fortune for the police -- and a stroke of bad luck…

22 Dec 2024, 2:59 pm