What happened on the Alaska Airlines plane? Everything about the incident that could have been fatal

This Friday afternoon, a Boeing 737 MAX 9 from the company Alaska Airlines It gained altitude after taking off from Portland (Oregon) bound for San Bernardino (California). Ten minutes later, an explosion was heard and then a rush of freezing air was felt entering the cabin. What followed were the screams of terrified passengers, who saw that the ship’s fuselage had a hole the size of a refrigerator. This is what is known so far about an incident that could have ended in tragedy for the plane’s 177 occupants.

This Tuesday, the AP agency revealed that the plane involved in the incident was not being used on the trip to Hawaii after a warning light that may have indicated pressurization problems came on on three different flights.

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As a precautionary measure, Alaska Airlines decided to stop scheduling long flights over water for that plane, “so it could very quickly return to an airport” if the warning light reappeared, he said. Jennifer Homendypresident of National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) from United States.

The panel that fell from an Alaska Airlines plane was found in a home in Portland. (Photo from Brochure/NTSB/AFP). (FLYER/)

According to the AP, Homendy clarified that the pressurization light was possibly unrelated to what happened on Friday.

The CNN network explained that after the explosion, A boy’s shirt was sucked from his torso and came out through the hole. Some passengers screamed and cried as they texted their loved ones. Additionally, oxygen masks fell from the ship’s ceiling.

Contacted by phone by CNN, the passenger Nick Hoch33 years old, said that at the time of the incident “a fog or cloud hit me in the face”. He described the experience as “traumatic,” “tense” and “scary.”

“I was scared and quite scared.“And I think other people were quite disturbed as well,” he added. Hoch.

CNN reported that Hoch He was sitting on the left side of the plane, a few rows in front of where the detached panel exploded. “There were people much closer to me than I mentioned this your AirPods have come out of your ears“, continued the witness.

Another passenger, Vi Nguyen, told The New York Times that she woke up to a loud bang.

“I opened my eyes and the first thing I saw was the oxygen mask right in front of me.”Nguyen told the newspaper. “I looked to the left and the side panel of the plane was gone,” she explained.

The row where the panel is located was not occupied by any passengers. (Photo from Brochure/NTSB/AFP). (FLYER/)

A recording published on liveatc.net and cited by CNN states that the pilot asked air traffic control for permission to lower altitude, as the incident occurred at 17,000 feet. “We are declaring an emergency. We need to go below 10,000″, he said. At this altitude the air has enough oxygen to breathe safely.

After obtaining authorization, the pilot reported to air traffic control: “We are in emergency, we are depressurized, we need to return, We have 177 passengers. The fuel is eighteen-eight.”

About 20 minutes after takeoff, the plane landed safely at the airport. Portland. Nobody was injured.

An Alaska Airlines plane seen at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on January 11, 2023. (Photo by Daniel SLIM/AFP). (DANIEL SLIM/)

According to Jennifer Homendypresident of NTSBat least two elements prevented the tragedy of Alaska Airlines.

First, seats adjacent to the aircraft’s detached panel were not occupied.

Secondly, the fact that it occurred shortly after take-off, without having yet reached cruising altitude, and when passengers were still wearing their seat belts.

At the time of the explosion, the backrest of seat 26A had completely disappeared, as had the headrests of seats 25A and 26A.

“We are very, very lucky that this didn’t end in something more tragic.”he said House made. “There was no one sitting in seats 26A and 26B,” near the panel known as the ‘door plug,’ he added.

The company One Monroe Aerospace explained that this type of panel must always remain closed when the pressure inside the plane is different from that outside.. On larger flights, a gate enabled as Emergency exit.

The Boeing 737 MAX 9. (AFP).

He panel of the fuselage that separated from the plane Alaska Airlines was found in the backyard of a house in Portland.

The house owner notified the NTSB about the object, Jennifer Homendy reported at a press conference on Sunday night

The discovery of the piece could be essential in helping to clarify what happened.

I found an iPhone on the side of the road… Still in airplane mode with half a battery and open for baggage claim for #AlaskaAirlines ASA1282 Survived a 16,000 foot drop perfectly intact!

When I called, Zoe in @NTSB said it was the SECOND phone to be found. No doors yet???? pic.twitter.com/CObMikpuFd

-Seanathan Bates (@SeanSafyre) January 7, 2024

O Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in U.S ordered “immediate overhauls of certain Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft before they can return to flight.”

He added that 171 aircraft of this model will have to be inspected, and that each inspection will last between four and eight hours.

According to the AFP agency, Boeing has so far delivered around 218 737 MAX aircraft.

Sunday, Boeing reported that its CEO, Dave Calhoun, has scheduled a safety meeting for Tuesday with all employees at the company’s factory located in Washington state.

The plane involved in the incident was certified in October, according to FAA records.

Alaska Airlines grounded all his plans for that model.

United airlineswhich has the world’s largest fleet of 737 MAX 9s, indicated that it has grounded 46 aircraft and that 33 have already been inspected.

Aeromexico The airline will ground its 19 B737 MAX-9 aircraft for inspection, the airline said in a statement.

Copa Linhas Aéreas announced that it grounded 21 aircraft and Turkish Airlines stated that it grounded five aircraft in its fleet.

Iceland noted that none of its 737 MAX 9s feature the aircraft configuration specified in the FAA grounding order.

The Boeing 737 MAX accidents. (AFP).

The problems for Boeing 737MAX They are not new. These planes were grounded around the world for 20 months following a ban following two crashes in MAXIMUM 8 in 2018 and 2019 that left 346 people dead.

In late 2020, the 737 Max returned to the air carrying passengers in most markets around the world.

But at that moment the company’s problems were not over. In April last year, Boeing Said to have discovered a manufacturing problem in some planes 737 MAXIMUM after a supplier used a “non-standard manufacturing process” during the installation of two accessories on the rear fuselage, although Boeing He insisted the problem did not constitute a security risk, CNN reported.

Last month, Boeing asked airlines to inspect all their 737 MAXIMUM to detect a possible loose screw in the rudder system, after an airline discovered a possible problem with a key part on two planes, CNN reported.

Source: Elcomercio