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.
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.
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
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.
Source: FlightRadar24
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.
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
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.
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.
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
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Featured image adapted from @AlexFromEW on X and @avgeekjake on X.
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