PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Alaska Airlines is temporarily grounding its fleet of Boeing 737 Max 9 planes after a flight heading to Ontario, California had to make an emergency return landing to Portland when a portion of the aircraft blew out mid-air shortly after takeoff on Friday evening, the CEO announced in a statement.
Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 originally departed from Portland International Airport around 5 p.m. and then turned around after reaching an altitude of 16,000 feet when the incident happened. The plane landed safely at PDX shortly before 5:30 p.m.
Social media video appeared to show that one of the passenger window panels had been blown out.
The flight included 171 passengers and six crew members, Alaska Airlines officials confirmed to KOIN 6.
In a statement to CBS News, the Federal Aviation Administration said the crew reported a “pressurization issue,” which the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board are now investigating.
The Boeing 737 Max 9 flight was certified in November 2023. Boeing said it has a technical team standing by to support the investigations.
Just after 11:30 p.m. Friday, Alaska Airlines CEO, Ben Minicucci reacted to the incident, stating:
At Alaska Airlines, safety is our foundational value and the most important thing we focus on every day. Following tonight’s event on Flight 1282, we have decided to take the precautionary step of temporarily grounding our fleet of 65 Boeing 737-9 aircraft. Each aircraft will be returned to service only after completion of full maintenance and safety inspections. We anticipate all inspections will be completed in the next few days.
I am personally committed to doing everything we can to conduct this review in a timely and transparent way.
We are working with Boeing and regulators to understand what occurred tonight, and will share updates as more information is available. The NTSB is investigating this event and we will fully support their investigation.
My heart goes out to those who were on this flight – I am so sorry for what you experienced. I am so grateful for the response of our pilots and flight attendants. We have teams on the ground in Portland assisting passengers and are working to support guests who are traveling in the days ahead.
-Ben
It wasn’t immediately clear whether there were any reported injuries in the incident, but one passenger said a teenage boy had his shirt ripped off and his mother saved him from getting pulled out of the plane.
“The oxygen masks dropped down, and I look to my left to hear and see wind blasting, with a piece of the wall gone,” said passenger Elizabeth Le. “There was no one in the window seat but a mom and her teenage son sitting [on] the aisle.”
One passenger told KOIN 6 about the reaction from others on the plane.
“Everyone was very calm, actually. It kind of helped. Everyone was just focused on making sure we were back on the ground safely,” he said.
