Panic and near-tragedy aboard an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9, forced to make an emergency landing in Oregon 20 minutes after take-off due to the explosion of the door of a disabled rear emergency exit.
No one was injured among the 177 people on board , including the 6 crew members, but the images that ended up on social media are terrifying: the panel coming off, the hole in the fuselage, the freezing wind coming in, the oxygen masks coming down and some clothing flying out .
After the accident, the American airline stopped its 65 Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft as a precaution , a model that had already been at the center of controversy due to safety issues. Shortly after, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the US agency responsible for aviation safety, announced that it had ordered the temporary grounding of 171 aircraft around the world, ordering immediate inspections before they can return to flight.
Flight 1282 departed Portland International Airport at 5.05pm local time for Ontario, California. But shortly after takeoff, the cabin crew reported a "pressurization problem." From passenger photos, it appears a panel has torn off that could have been used as an optional rear exit door in the center section of the cabin.
The extra door is generally installed by low-cost airlines that use extra seats for which multiple routes are needed for evacuation. Those doors, however, are permanently "plugged," or deactivated, on Alaska Airlines jets. At the time of the accident, the plane had reached an altitude of 4,876 metres, before descending for an emergency landing at 3,000 metres, below which threshold breathing is considered possible for healthy people without extra oxygen .
Kyle Rinker, a passenger on the flight, said a porthole came loose shortly after takeoff. «It was really sudden. As soon as we got to altitude, the porthole with the panel simply blew off and we didn't notice until the oxygen masks came off." Another passenger, Vi Nguyen, reported being woken up by a loud noise during the flight: « I open my eyes and the first thing I see is the oxygen mask right in front of me . I look to the left and a piece of the plane's wall has disappeared. The first thing I thought was 'I'm going to die'."
Evan Smith, a young passenger sitting near the safety door who was blown away, saw his shirt taken off and blown off due to the powerful suction caused by depressurization . Luckily the seat next to the torn panel was not occupied. The aircraft had been certified airworthy in October and had just been delivered.
«A rare event», commented Alaska Airlines, before announcing that «each aircraft will be returned to service only after complete maintenance and safety inspections» . The company, CEO Ben Minicucci said, is "working with Boeing and regulators to understand what happened."
(Unioneonline/L)
