Flight of Terror
Alaska Airlines aircraft heading to Ontario, California was mid-flight when suddenly the exit door had been blown out of the plane causing major panic on board. Passengers on the plane stated that the incident felt like an explosion. Many people were confused others screamed in terror. ” The first thing I thought was that I was going to die” said plane passenger Vi Nguyen. It is said that the door flew off ten minutes into the flight.
The flight from Alaska Airlines carrying 171 passengers has began its journey like any other flight. It had been initially delayed for a couple minutes to allow it to “de-ice.” At around 5:07 p.m. the plane finally took off. It reached about 16,000 feet in the air and going about 440 miles per hour. Suddenly without a warning came the “explosion” that had everyone on board startled as the plane was shaking. “We felt we were descending quickly” stated Vicki Kreps a nurse from Vancouver, passenger on the plane.
Sigh of Relief
Mr. Smith, passenger that was returning home to California, stated that with his previous military experience it was vital to keep a cool head. The plane was stable. It wasn’t shaking, it wasn’t making any weird maneuvers, it was just flying steady. At that point, I was sure the aircraft was fine and we were going to get down OK.” stated Smith. The plane circled back to Portland where it made a safe landing at around 5:27pm. Paramedics rushed onto the plane to help the passengers. Besides someone hurting his foot, there was no major injuries and everyone was safe.
Many of the passengers have stated how amazing the staff handled the situation. They are glad they were able to help and stay strong during such a scary moment. “I do want to emphasize that the actions of the flight crew were really incredible,” said Jennifer Homendy during a news conference.
Where Did the Door Go?
After all the passengers were safe and being taken care of, the investigation about how this incident happened in the first place began. It has been stated that the missing door from the Alaska Airlines plane has now been found and with news about the reason it flew off. Federal Officials have said they found loose bolts on the aircraft.
“Since we began preliminary inspections on Saturday, we have found instances that appear to relate to installation issues in the door plug — for example, bolts that needed additional tightening,” said United Officials. Earlier today a school teacher from Portland named Bob claimed to have found the door in his yard and contacted the National Transportation Safety Board.
“We were able to inspect the airframe itself from the exterior and found absolutely no structural damage to the aircraft,” stated Homendy. Since the incident, the airline has now restricted the aircraft from flying over waters. This decision was made when the auto pressurization on the aircraft fail lights had been lit up three times in the last month. It is uncertain if this has any correlation to the recent event but precautions are being taken.
Safety Measures
Due to the incident, the airline has been forced to cancel over 200 flights on Monday. Since then the planes are currently grounded. More are expected to be canceled on Thursday as well.
There are no recent updates regarding the situation. Alaska Airlines stated that they cannot give out any more information about the previous maintenance of the aircraft without permission from the NTSB. “We have asked for permission from the NTSB to address these questions – they will not permit us to comment at this time. We will provide information as soon as the NTSB gives us permission to do so.” stated the airline.
Written By Erika Cano
Sources
CNN: Missing part of Alaska Airlines plane is found in Portland, Oregon, NTSB says, as United Airlines finds loose bolts on Max 9s
ABC News: United finds loose bolts on 737 Max 9 planes in wake of Alaska Airlines door plug incident
The New York Times: The Frightful Minutes Aboard Flight 1282]
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