Tragedy may have been averted Friday night when a panel of Boeing plane blew out as the Alaska Airlines flight traveled at 16,000 feet, an NTSB official said Saturday night.
Seats adjacent to the blowout, developed when a panel called a door plug detached from the plane, were not occupied, and the aircraft’s altitude meant passengers were likely seated with seatbelts in use, National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said during a news conference Saturday night.
Headrests became detached from two nearby passenger seats, the back of one seat was gone, and there was clothing left in the area following the accident, which depressurized the cabin and resulted in “chaos,” Homendy said.
“We are very, very fortunate here that this didn’t end up in something more tragic,” the NTSB chair said. “No one was seated in 26A and 26B, where that door plug is.”
The flight was about 10 minutes from its departure airport, Portland International, when the panel detached at 6:38 p.m. Friday with 171 passengers and six crew members on board.
The passenger cabin was subject to rapid decompression after the panel detached and left a large hole in the port side of the aircraft, Homendy said.
For people on board, the accident must have been “truly terrifying,” she said.
The 737 Max 9 was en route to Ontario International Airport in San Bernardino County, California, but it returned to Portland and made an emergency landing, authorities said.
The flight was “only 10 minutes out from the airport when the door blew,” Homendy said.
Authorities were still searching for the door plug, which they believe fell to the ground in the community of Cedar Hills, about 7 miles west of central Portland.
Cabin underwent ‘rapid decompression’
Though no passengers sustained serious injuries, the chair said some on board were treated for minor injuries.
She imagined the accident would could have been much worse if the flight had been at its cruising altitude of 35,000 feet, with people standing,…
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