Alaska Airlines flight makes emergency landing after window blows out

[airportwoman]

And not just the window, but the surrounding frame in the fuselage! No injuries, thankfully (that I know of).

The plane took off from Portland, Oregon and was headed to Ontario, California, outside L.A., when this happened. It was able to turn around and land safely in Portland.

We're sure having a lot of freakish air incidents, aren't we?

https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/06/us/alaska-airlines-window-landing/index.html

 

[djtopcat]

Last time I flew Alaska was to Sacramento back in August, and the plane was old and trash. They used to be the best domestic carrier in the US...30 years ago lol
I'm flying Delta from now on.

 

[LadyL]

I would seriously have heart failure.

 

[Herat]

Flight forums note that the panel that blew out can be configured as an exit door or a window. It depends on the client's need and Alaska does not request it with doors in place. The difference becomes the panel and cowling that is used. The best guess is that there was somehow a failure of the cowling that did not fully lock the panel in place.

But that's what they say.

I wonder how long they had to fly with that one open door to get to land. I'd guess 5-10 minutes. I cannot fathom what the woman and the little boy had to deal with being so close to the door.

Thank GOD people were wearing their seat belts !!!c

Photo of Alaska flight landed in PDX. The defect looks exactly like a door on other versions of the aircraft.

 

[Herat]

I may be forced to re-consider my need for window seating in the future.

Last time I flew Alaska was to Sacramento back in August, and the plane was old and trash. They used to be the best domestic carrier in the US...30 years ago lol
I'm flying Delta from now on.

Yeah, it may have been trash, but it kept all it's windows in flight.

This was a new plane with only a few flying hours.

 

[Herat]

And not just the window, but the surrounding frame in the fuselage! No injuries, thankfully (that I know of).

The plane took off from Portland, Oregon and was headed to Ontario, California, outside L.A., when this happened. It was able to turn around and land safely in Portland.

We're sure having a lot of freakish air incidents, aren't we?

https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/06/us/alaska-airlines-window-landing/index.html

Japan Airlines / Japanese Coast Guard accident appears to be a communication issue between the Tower and the Coast Guard pilots, along with a possible faulty airstrip light and the difficulty of visual notice of a much smaller crafts lights in a busy airport with many a lights. Literally, the holes in the Swiss Cheese line up, as they say in the trade

Not a structural failure in the craft

 

[JennieM]

FAA grounds 171 Boeing planes after mid-air blowout on Alaska Airlines jet​

The US airline regulator has ordered the grounding of some Boeing 737 Max 9 jets after part of one plane fell off during an Alaska Airlines flight.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the inspections would affect 171 planes.

[…]

FAA grounds 171 Boeing planes after mid-air blowout on Alaska Airlines jet

It comes after part of the fuselage of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 fell off, forcing an emergency landing.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Herat]

FAA grounds 171 Boeing planes after mid-air blowout on Alaska Airlines jet​

The US airline regulator has ordered the grounding of some Boeing 737 Max 9 jets after part of one plane fell off during an Alaska Airlines flight.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the inspections would affect 171 planes.

[…]

FAA grounds 171 Boeing planes after mid-air blowout on Alaska Airlines jet

It comes after part of the fuselage of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 fell off, forcing an emergency landing.

www.bbc.co.uk

Surprised this wasn't announced late last night or first thing this morning.

 

[Chimera]

Glad no one blew out of the window.... like in the movies.
No word yet about where the door/window ended up ?

Terrified Alaska passenger reveals what it was like inside doomed jet

Terrified passenger Emma Vu said she was asleep around 20 minutes into the fateful flight when she 'felt the entire plane drop', as she revealed her panic-stricken final texts to her family saying goodbye.

www.dailymail.co.uk

The window that blew out was designed as an emergency exit, although the door was deactivated by Boeing before delivery.

Alaska Airlines says it is grounding 65 of its Boeing 737-9 MAX jets in response to the incident for urgent safety checks.

The airline's CEO Ben Minicucci said in a statement the planes will only go back into its fleet after clearing precautionary maintenance procedures, which he expected to be 'in the next few days.'

The Boeing 737-9 MAX rolled off the assembly line just two months ago, receiving its certification in November 2023, according to FAA record posted online.
Red bolding mine.

Not a very old plane to suffer that kind of structural failure, imo.
Thankful no one was hurt or killed.
How unnerving, though.
Omo.

 

[Herat]

Glad no one blew out of the window.... like in the movies.
No word yet about where the door/window ended up ?

Terrified Alaska passenger reveals what it was like inside doomed jet

Terrified passenger Emma Vu said she was asleep around 20 minutes into the fateful flight when she 'felt the entire plane drop', as she revealed her panic-stricken final texts to her family saying goodbye.

www.dailymail.co.uk

The window that blew out was designed as an emergency exit, although the door was deactivated by Boeing before delivery.

Alaska Airlines says it is grounding 65 of its Boeing 737-9 MAX jets in response to the incident for urgent safety checks.

The airline's CEO Ben Minicucci said in a statement the planes will only go back into its fleet after clearing precautionary maintenance procedures, which he expected to be 'in the next few days.'

The Boeing 737-9 MAX rolled off the assembly line just two months ago, receiving its certification in November 2023, according to FAA record posted online.
Red bolding mine.

Not a very old plane to suffer that kind of structural failure, imo.
Thankful no one was hurt or killed.
How unnerving, though.
Omo.

The news is reporting the aircraft was placed into duty on October 31, 2023, so it would have been in the possession of Alaska Airlines some weeks prior to that for their training and onboarding.

Other intensely bad things can come from a part of the airplane wall detaching, and all of these have happened:

A detached piece hits the tail section, where the steering rudder mechanisms are housed. Can land a plane with hole in it, but cannot control a large commercial jet for safe landing if the steering / rudder mechanisms are damage.

A rip or detachment damages the landing gear doors. Cannot open one (or both) of the doors and do not have the one of both of the landing gear fully operational for landing. That requires dumping the fuel in your fully loaded aircraft while you review your training simulation of how to land without the main wheels

A rip or detachment has severed an electrical line, or a communications line, or some other essential piece of equipment and there isn't time for the pilots to figure out what happened, they just need to land.

Makes me wonder why I ever get in a plane, now.

 

[Oregonmama]

My husband was a passenger on that flight. Everyone who didn't get their cell phones sucked out the window texted their oved ones. Very scary to get all those texts from my husband. The plane did a huge circle over the Portland metro area to descend to allow more breathable air in and my husband saw the area where our house was. Thankfully everyone came out alive !

 

[airportwoman]

Glad no one blew out of the window.... like in the movies.
No word yet about where the door/window ended up ?

Does anyone remember this? Incredibly, there was only one fatality, a flight attendant whose body was never found.

Aloha Airlines Flight 243 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I'm sure people are looking for that window, the way they looked for the crucial part that led to the Flight 232 crash a year later. That was found by a farmer harvesting his field a few months later.

United Airlines Flight 232 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Oregonmama]

I was listening to the scanner last night, alot of ppl calling in about finding cell phones and some belongings like carry-ons falling from the sky . The window of the plane or its called a pocket door (used for a door in other planes if the airline wanted it) has not been found but it's believed to be fallen in the Columbia river that is very close to the PDX airport.

 

[airportwoman]

It may also be in a wooded or otherwise uninhabited area.

 

[Oregonmama]

It may also be in a wooded or otherwise uninhabited area.

The area surrounding the airport is all airport business stuff, Costco, Ikea and hotels. Deer Island is another possibility, or it might have flown into Vancouver WA which is right across the river from PDX airport but no reports yet.

 

[Oregonmama]

It may also be in a wooded or otherwise uninhabited area.

PDX airport is surrounded by many housing developments as well, not much wooded area.

 

[airportwoman]

I'm sure a lot of roofs are getting checked right now.

 

[ElizB]

Dynamic Regulatory System

EAD issued by the FAA

 

[Chimera]

I was listening to the scanner last night, alot of ppl calling in about finding cell phones and some belongings like carry-ons falling from the sky . The window of the plane or its called a pocket door (used for a door in other planes if the airline wanted it) has not been found but it's believed to be fallen in the Columbia river that is very close to the PDX airport.

1.) Thankful it didn't fall on someone or their car , house, etc. !
2.) It seems kind of important to find it, in order to see what caused the blowout or detachment ?

 

[Oregonmama]

1.) Thankful it didn't fall on someone or their car , house, etc. !
2.) It seems kind of important to find it, in order to see what caused the blowout or detachment ?

I honestly feel that that area was meant to be made for a door only, not just a window with the bottom panel being plugged in this plane. Alaska wanted it as a window option only. I think the plug did not stabilize that area well enough for extreme pressure. JMO