An Alaska Airlines flight, carrying 174 passengers and six crew members, made an emergency landing in Portland, Oregon, in the United States on Friday (local time) after an exit door and an adjacent unoccupied seat blew out mid-air.
It was not immediately clear if anyone was injured.
Visuals emerged on social media showed the rear mid-cabin exit door wall missing on the airplane. This door was originally meant for evacuation purpose, but was not activated on Alaska Airlines aircraft and are permanently “plugged”.
The flight was operated by a Boeing 737-9 MAX, which had been bound for Ontario, experienced the incident soon after departure and landed safely back at Portland at 5:26 pm (local time). The plane rose as high as 16,000 feet during the flight and then suddenly began descending, according to data from flight analysers.
Passengers narrated their harrowing experience, calling it a nightmare.
A 22-year-old passenger told the New York Times, “I open up my eyes and the first thing I see is the oxygen mask right in front of me. And I look to the left and the wall on the side of the plane is gone. The first thing I thought was, ‘I’m going to die'”.
An air safety expert, Anthony Brickhouse, said, “I can’t imagine what these passengers experienced. It would have been loud. The wind would be rushing through that cabin. It was a probably pretty violent situation and definitely a scary situation.”
Notably, it was a brand-new aircraft that rolled off the assembly line just two months ago and received certification in November 2023.
The airline stated that they are investigating the incident, and officials are yet to determine the cause behind it.
“Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 from Portland, Oregon, to Ontario, California, experienced an incident this evening soon after departure. The aircraft landed safely back at Portland International Airport with 174 guests and 6 crew members,” the airline said.
It added, “While this type of occurrence is rare, our flight crew was trained and prepared to safely manage the situation”.
The Boeing Airplanes said, “We are aware of the incident involving Alaska Airlines Flight AS1282. We are working to gather more information and are in contact with our airline customer. A Boeing technical team stands ready to support the investigation”.
Last week, Boeing said it was urging airlines to inspect all 737 MAX airplanes for a possible loose bolt in the rudder control system.
The Federal Aviation Administration said that the flight crew reported a pressurisation issue, and said it would investigate.