Several passengers injured on Alaska Airlines flight that blew out midair over Oregon, company says

Several passengers experienced injuries requiring medical attention after their Alaska Airlines flight had suffered a blowout of a window and a piece of fuselage above Portland, Oregon, according to the airline’s press release Saturday evening.

On Friday, a window panel blew out on an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-9 Max seven minutes after takeoff from Portland. The rapid loss of cabin pressure pulled the clothes off a child and caused oxygen masks to drop from the ceiling. Pilots made a safe emergency landing with 177 passengers, including six crewmembers, on board.

Alaska Airlines didn’t specify how many passengers were injured and how severe their injuries were; it only said “all guests have now been medically cleared.”

The airline announced Friday its decision to temporarily ground its 65 Boeing 737-9 Max aircraft pending inspections that began early Saturday morning. On Saturday, the Federal Aviation Administration announced an emergency order to require temporary grounding and immediate inspections of Boeing 737 Max 9 planes that were operated by U.S. airlines or flown in the United States by foreign carriers. The agency said the order will affect about 171 planes worldwide.

In a press conference in Portland Saturday evening, National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said the agency will begin investigation on the incident Sunday, vowing to take a broad examination of issues including how the aircraft in question was certified and the aircraft’s maintenance records.

Homendy said it’s fortunate that the incident didn’t end up as something more tragic: “We have the safest aviation system in the world — it is incredibly safe. We are the global gold standard for safety around the world, but we have to maintain that standard.”

Alaska Airlines said the fallen part of the aircraft is called a plug door, which is a specific panel of the fuselage near the rear of the aircraft and is not an operational exit door. Alaska plugs the door because its 737 Max 9 jet doesn’t have enough seats to trigger the requirement for another emergency exit.

Homendy said radar data shows that the plug door is now located in Portland’s Cedar Hills neighborhood near Highway 217. She urges members of the public to provide information about the door to local law enforcement or email to witness@ntsb.gov.

Grounded planes account for one-fourth of Alaska’s fleet

Alaska Airlines said it received the Max 9 aircraft in question in October. The plane is brand-new — it began carrying passengers in November and has made only 145 flights, according to Flightradar24, a flight-tracking service. The Max — there are currently three versions: the 8, 9 and 10, which differ mainly in size — is the newest version of Boeing’s venerable 737, a twin-engine, single-aisle plane frequently used on U.S. domestic flights.

Passenger Evan Smith said a boy and his mother were sitting in the row where the window blew out and the child’s shirt was sucked off him and out of the plane.

“You heard a big loud bang to the left rear. A whooshing sound and all the oxygen masks deployed instantly and everyone got those on,” Smith told KATU-TV.

After the terrifying incident, Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci said the company expects the inspections to be completed “in the next few days.” The Max 9 aircraft being inspected account for more than one-fourth of Alaska’s fleet. The company revealed Saturday evening that as a result of the grounding and inspections, a total of 160 flights were canceled, impacting approximately 23,000 passengers.

“We are working with Boeing and regulators to understand what occurred … and will share updates as more information is available,” Minicucci said. “My heart goes out to those who were on this flight – I am so sorry for what you experienced.”

There was a large line Saturday at Portland International Airport, with customers attempting to find new flights. Annette Morales said her Alaska Airlines flight to California was delayed by four hours, after the airline was forced to shift planes.

“It’s just a little bit inconvenient,” Morales said. “Having to sit here three or four extra hours at the airport… it’s not optimal.”

Southwest Airlines, American Airlines say they don’t carry Max 9 jets

United Airlines also operates a large fleet of 737-9 Max jets. A United spokesman said Saturday the airline had nothing yet to announce about its Max fleet.

Southwest Airlines and American Airlines told NPR they do not carry Boeing 737 Max 9s. While they do carry Boeing 737 Max 8s, both airlines said the model does not raise any concerns.

“The MAX -8 aircraft in our existing fleet and the -7 in our future fleet do not have the exit door plug involved in the Friday evening event. Our fleet and operation are unaffected,” a Southwest spokesperson said in a statement.

Meanwhile, India’s aviation regulator ordered the immediate inspections of all Boeing Max 737 aircraft owned by domestic operators, Reuters reported. None of India’s air operators are believed to carry the model that abruptly landed in Portland on Friday.

Window and chunk of fuselage blew out 3 miles above Oregon

Alaska Airlines’ flight 1282 had taken off from Portland at 5:07 p.m. Friday for a two-hour flight to Ontario, California. About six minutes later, the window and a chunk of the fuselage blew out as the plane was at about 16,000 feet (4.8 kilometers). One of the pilots declared an emergency and asked for clearance to descend to 10,000 feet (3 kilometers), the altitude where the air would have enough oxygen to breathe safely.

‘We need to turn back to Portland,” the pilot told controllers in a calm voice that she maintained throughout the landing process.

Videos posted by passengers online showed a gaping hole where the window had been and passengers wearing their masks. They applauded when the plane landed safely about 13 minutes after the window blew out. Firefighters then came down the aisle, asking passengers to remain in their seats as they treated the injured.

The aircraft involved rolled off the assembly line and received its certification just two months ago, according to online FAA records. The plane had been on 145 flights since entering commercial service on Nov. 11, said FlightRadar24, another tracking service. The flight from Portland was the aircraft’s third of the day.

Boeing has offered only a brief statement.

“We are aware of the incident involving Alaska Airlines Flight 1282,” the company said Friday night. “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.”

Fatal crashes of Max jets in the past

More than a decade ago, Boeing considered designing and building an entirely new plane to replace the 737. But afraid of losing sales to European rival Airbus, which was marketing a more fuel-efficient version of its similarly sized A320, Boeing decided to take the shorter path of tweaking the 737 — and the Max was born.

A Max 8 jet operated by Lion Air crashed in Indonesia in 2018, and an Ethiopian Airlines Max 8 crashed in 2019. Regulators around the world grounded the planes for nearly two years while Boeing changed an automated flight control system implicated in the crashes.

Federal prosecutors and Congress questioned whether Boeing had cut corners in its rush to get the Max approved quickly, and with a minimum of training required for pilots. In 2021, Boeing settled a criminal investigation by agreeing to pay $2.5 billion, including a $244 million fine. The company blamed two relatively low-level employees for deceiving the Federal Aviation Administration about flaws in the flight-control system.

Boeing has estimated in financial reports that fallout from the two fatal crashes has cost it more than $20 billion. It has reached confidential settlements with most of the families of passengers who died in the crashes.

After a pause following the crashes, airlines resumed buying the Max. But the plane has been plagued by problems unrelated to Friday’s blowout.

Questions about components from suppliers have held up deliveries at times. Last year, the FAA told pilots to limit use of an anti-ice system on the Max in dry conditions because of concern that inlets around the engines could overheat and break away, possibly striking the plane. And in December, Boeing told airlines to inspect the planes for a possible loose bolt in the rudder-control system.

A passenger on a Southwest Airlines jet was killed in 2018 when a piece of engine housing blew off and shattered the window she was sitting next to. However, that incident involved an earlier version of the Boeing 737, not a Max.

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OPB reporters Joni Auden Land and Winston Szeto, NPR reporter Juliana Kim and Associated Press reporter Terry Spencer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, contributed to this report.