Emergency in the Sky: Alaska Airlines Plane Door Blows Open Mid-Air
An Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-9 MAX faced a scary situation today when one of its doors blew open shortly after take-off. Videos taken by passengers captured the mid-cabin exit door completely separating from the aircraft.
Alaska Airlines shared that flight AS1282 from Portland to Ontario, CA experienced the incident, but fortunately, the aircraft safely landed back at Portland International Airport with 171 guests and 6 crew members. An investigation is underway to understand the cause.
The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is also looking into the event. The aircraft, delivered to Alaska Airlines in October 2023, had only completed 145 flights before this incident.
🚨#BREAKING: Alaska Airlines Forced to Make an Emergency Landing After Large Aircraft Window Blows Out Mid-Air ⁰⁰📌#Portland | #Oregon
⁰A Forced emergency landing was made of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 at Portland International Airport on Friday night. The flight, traveling… pic.twitter.com/nt0FwmPALE— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) January 6, 2024
According to real-time aircraft movement monitor Flightradar24, the plane reached a maximum altitude of 16,325 feet before being safely diverted back to Portland.
Notably, the Boeing 737-9 MAX involved has a rear cabin exit door behind the wings, which is usually activated in dense seating configurations for evacuations. However, on Alaska Airlines aircraft, these doors are permanently “plugged” and not activated.
Stay tuned for more updates on this mid-air scare as the investigation progresses.
Dhairya Saraswat