Boeing blowout: Alaska Airlines passengers file suit against Boeing

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Passengers on Alaska Airlines flight 1282 have chosen to file a class-action lawsuit against Boeing after a door plug blew off the plane last week.

A Seattle firm filed the suit against Boeing on behalf of the passengers after their aircraft, a Boeing 737 MAX 9, “experienced critical failure” during its initial takeoff on Friday, Jan. 5. The flight was forced to make an emergency return landing at Portland International Airport (PDX).

Flight 1282 took off from PDX just before 4:30 p.m. At around 16,000 feet, the door plug blew out of the aircraft, causing a rapid depressurization incident on board.

“The force of the depressurization ripped the shirt off a boy, and sucked cell phones, other debris, and much of the oxygen out of the aircraft,” the suit reads. “The shirtless boy leapt over the woman next to him, and escaped toward the front of the plane. At least two others seated near the hole followed and found new seats closer to the front.”

This photo released by the National Transportation Safety Board shows a gaping hole where the paneled-over door had been at the fuselage plug area of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 on Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024, in Portland, Ore. A panel used to plug an area reserved for an exit door on the Boeing 737 Max 9 jetliner blew out Jan. 5, shortly after the flight took off from Portland, forcing the plane to return to Portland International Airport. (National Transportation Safety Board via AP)
In this photo released by the National Transportation Safety Board, NTSB Investigator-in-Charge John Lovell examines the fuselage plug area of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 on Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024, in Portland, Ore. A panel used to plug an area reserved for an exit door on the Boeing 737 Max 9 jetliner blew out Friday night shortly after the flight took off from Portland, forcing the plane to return to Portland International Airport. (National Transportation Safety Board via AP)
This image provided by Kelly Bartlett shows passengers near a hole in the fuselage of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9, Flight 1282, which was forced to return to Portland International Airport on Friday, Jan. 5, 2024. (Kelly Bartlett via AP)
This image from video provided by Elizabeth Le shows passengers near the damage on an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9, Flight 1282, which was forced to return to Portland International Airport on Friday, Jan. 5, 2024. (Elizabeth Le via AP)
This photo released by the National Transportation Safety Board shows the door plug from Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 on Monday, Jan. 8, 2024, in Portland, Ore. A panel used to plug an area reserved for an exit door on the Boeing 737 Max 9 jetliner blew out Jan. 5, shortly after the flight took off from Portland, forcing the plane to return to Portland International Airport. (National Transportation Safety Board via AP)

The aircraft managed to safely land at PDX around 5:30 p.m., but passengers say they “feared they would not survive the flight.”

“Thoughts of a complete plane malfunction and possible destruction naturally entered their minds,” the suit reads. “Some prayed. Some texted family to express their trepidation. Some gripped and clung to one another. Some adult passengers were crying.”

After the incident, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered the grounding of some Boeing 737 MAX 9s.

And though the FAA also announced an investigation into the cause of the flight’s decompression, Attorney Daniel Laurence said the passengers chose to file the suit before the results were determined for the sake of their physical and emotional needs.

“Unfortunately, although everyone is glad that the blow-out occurred while the crew could still manage to land the aircraft safely, this nightmare experience has caused economic, physical and ongoing emotional consequences that have understandably deeply affected our clients, and is one more disturbing black mark on the troubled 737-MAX series aircraft.”