PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board has released more than 600 pages of materials connected to an investigation of the door plug flying off an Alaska Airlines plane as it flew over Portland in January.
The document, which is available to the public on the NTSB website, includes the transcripts of the investigative hearings on Aug. 6-7 when Boeing executives were grilled about what led to the incident.
Back in February, the NTSB found that the bolts meant to hold the door plug in place were missing when the plane took off on Jan. 5, 2024.
When secured properly, bolts prevent the door plug from sliding up from the frame when pressurization changes in the cabin mid-flight. Instead, the door flew off when Flight 1282 reached an altitude of 16,000 feet.
The release also includes transcripts of interviews with crew members, specialists, and even Boeing part installation plans. According to crew members, the incident “sounded like a cannon went off” inside the plane.
“I remember looking and I saw a teenage boy without a shirt on and his skin was very red and I later found out that he was in seat 25 A, so he was in the window seat that was directly in front of the hole,” one crew member said. “And I saw something that looked like he was being grabbed by somebody and pulled over to the other side of the plane.”
Crew members also shared concerns that passengers had been pushed off the plane with the force of the door plug’s removal. However, no deaths were reported once the plane landed safely in PDX.
“When you have a full airplane like that, sometimes passengers are looking and they’re like, ‘If there’s nobody sitting there, can I sit there?’ Nobody did,” a crew member shared. “Those two seats were empty even though I’m sure there would’ve been somebody who would have preferred not to be in a center seat and would have happily taken a window seat. Thank God they didn’t.”
The door was discovered the next day on Barnes Road near Highway 217 in the Cedar Hills neighborhood. Officials reported that the headrests were missing from seats 25A and 26A, and investigators found some clothing in the area.
Some are now suing Boeing and Alaska, claiming the flight caused them trauma and injury.
After the incident, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered a temporary grounding of all 737 Max 9 aircraft for an inspection. The planes have since made their way back into transit.
