A horrifying scene unfolded Friday for nearly 200 people aboard a recently-certified Alaska Airlines plane from Oregon to California as the aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing after a large piece of the plane blew out mid-air.
As the Daily Mail reported, Alaska flight 1282, a Boeing 737-9 MAX bound for Ontario, California, departed Portland, Oregon just after 5 pm Pacific time on Friday when a deactivated emergency door used as a regular cabin window blew out at 16,000 feet. Six crew members and 171 passengers were aboard the jet.
An X/Twitter user discovered a recording of the female pilot frantically calling air traffic control after the plane section blew out. The audio is quite chilling.
Portland approach, Alaska 1282 emergency! Aircraft is now leveling 12,000 in a left turn heading three four zero.
We need a divert. We’ve declared an emergency. We are depressurized. We have 177 passengers on board, and a seal is…18,900
LISTEN:
I found the @liveatc recording of #ASA1282 declaring an emergency with Seattle Center around 5:12pm PT. Aircraft would have been ~12,000 ft and climbing. “Uhhhh we’d like to get down.” pic.twitter.com/P8xxJ5nsbj
— Brian McGuigan (@bricaul) January 6, 2024
Captured footage shows what happened after the plane lost its part. It shows fliers staring out the gaping hole of the fuselage, a baby crying, and passengers appearing to mutter that they thought they were going to die.
The air also ripped the shirt off a little boy as his mom desperately held onto him. Phones were also sucked away from passengers and disappeared into the sky.
WATCH:
#BREAKING: Alaska Airlines Forced to Make an Emergency Landing After Large Aircraft Window Blows Out Mid-Air ⁰⁰#Portland | #Oregon
⁰A Forced emergency landing was made of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 at Portland International Airport on Friday night. The flight, traveling… pic.twitter.com/nt0FwmPALE— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) January 6, 2024
Below are photos of the gaping hole in the Boeing 737-9 MAX. As the Mail notes, it had just rolled off the assembly line and received its certification two months ago.
Somehow, everyone aboard the flight escaped without injuries. Boeing, Alaska Airlines, and the National Transportation Safety Board have all launched investigations to determine what caused the part to break off.
One passenger, 22-year-old Vi Nguyen of Portland, told the New York Times that she woke up to a loud sound during the flight. She then saw a gaping hole in the aircraft and feared she was about to die.
I open up my eyes, and the first thing I see is the oxygen mask right in front of me. And I look to the left, and the wall on the side of the plane is gone.
The first thing I thought was, “I’m going to die.”
A passenger using only her first name, Elizabeth, for privacy reasons told the Oregon Live that silence fell over the cabin.
I was just praying that everything would be OK. We were all calm, but I did feel like I was about to cry because, who knows, this could be my last few moments.
Due to this incident, Alaska Airlines has temporarily grounded all of its Boeing 737-9 aircraft.
Flight 1282 and our next steps with the Boeing MAX-9: https://t.co/LFxJvQYNcA pic.twitter.com/oemRokr1tz
— Alaska Airlines (@AlaskaAir) January 6, 2024
This story originally appeared on TheGateWayPundit
