Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 just took off from Portland International Airport in Oregon on the 5th. It was evening time and the lights had been turned off for take-off, so there was a sudden popping noise in the dark cabin, followed by a loud bang-like noise.
A hole opened in the side of the plane, which was flying at 16,000 feet (4,876 m), and air escaped through it with a hissing sound. Not only air, but also cell phones, large teddy bears, and passengers’ shirts were sucked into the hole. On the 6th, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported the tense situation on board Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, a Boeing 737 Max 9 passenger plane that had part of its fuselage fall off during flight the previous day, before making an emergency landing.
The plane, which had taken off from Portland International Airport the previous day and was heading to Ontario, California, with 171 passengers and 6 crew members on board, made an emergency landing immediately after take-off. According to the Alaska Airlines union and passengers on board, a part of the aircraft fell off next to the 26th row seat about 15 to 20 minutes after take-off. The cabin pressure dropped rapidly, and as the oxygen mask came down, gasping sounds of shock were heard throughout the plane.
Air was running low, and some passengers struggled to breathe until they had to put on oxygen masks. The cabin lights flashed, and some passengers stood up to see what was happening. Then the flight attendants instructed them to fasten their seat belts and remain seated.
The flight attendant said through the in-flight announcement, “We need to make sure it is safe to move,” and told us to keep wearing the oxygen mask. Then, one passenger shouted, “There’s a hole in the side of the plane!” and the passengers started to riot. The captain told air traffic control that it was an emergency and that the plane had lost pressure and had to return to Portland.
The passengers trembled with fear. Passenger Srey Soo-an, who was sitting in row 27, just behind the punctured area, held his son’s hand and prayed for a safe landing. They were both wearing oxygen masks, so they couldn’t talk. “I thought I was going to die,” he told WSJ.
Earn’s son, Joshua McCall, said he dropped his cell phone and later saw it fall through a hole in the fuselage along with a teddy bear he had received as a gift from his grandmother. Passenger Christopher Hickman, who was sitting in the eighth row, said he heard someone scream, “My son’s shirt is torn.”
Hickman said most passengers wore oxygen masks because they couldn’t see what was happening, so they relayed the news to each other that the ‘window’ had fallen off. When the female passenger sitting next to him asked, “Can I hold your hand?” Hickman said he did and held tightly the hands of the passenger and his mother who was sitting next to him. “At that time, we tried to support each other,” he said.
Some terrified passengers even sent messages to their families on their cell phones.
Emma Bu, who was sitting in seat 18B, sent a text message to her parents saying, “I’m so scared right now,” and posted a TikTok video saying, “Please pray for me. I don’t want to die.” As the minutes passed and the plane descended for landing, the passengers became strangely quiet.
The plane successfully landed 27 minutes after take-off and returned to the gate three minutes later. After the flight attendants went through various procedures, including checking the number of people, the passengers were finally able to get off the plane. Emergency responders checked the condition of the passengers, some of whom said their fingers felt numb, and a man sitting in a wheelchair receiving treatment for his leg.
Although the passengers, who experienced hell for about 10 minutes from the time a hole was made in the fuselage until the successful landing, were safe, they are still unable to escape the shock of the accident. Hickman, who rushed to Ontario on another flight, said he couldn’t sleep at night thinking about the accident. “It was a traumatic experience,” he said.