'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
An Alaska Airlines flight had to make an emergency landing at Portland International Airport on Friday night, January 5, 2024, due to a significant portion of the aircraft blowing apart in midair. As per sources like ABC News, several passengers reported the same.
The captain of the Alaska Airlines flight from Portland, Oregon to Ontario, California, had to make an emergency landing back at Portland International Airport due to a broken window, which resulted in a loss of cabin pressure.
The window and what appeared to be the jet's emergency escape were missing, according to the images and video shared on X (formerly known as Twitter).
Once the photos were uploaded on X by user @DramaAlert, they went viral. Netizens immediately took to the comment section of the post to react to the entire thing.
Netizens react as Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 makes an emergency landing in Portland
Following the emergency landing of the Alaska Airlines flight, terrified passengers posted several videos of their phones and other belongings being sucked out.
As per sources like CBS News, according to the FAA documents, the incident happened on Alaska Flight 1282, a Boeing 737-9 MAX that was approved by the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) in November 2023, just two months before the trip.
FlightAware, a public flight tracking website, stated that at 4:52 pm Pacific Standard Time, Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 departed from Portland International Airport. A little before 5:30 pm, the plane made a safe return to Portland.
At an altitude of 16,000 feet, after six minutes of flight, passengers on board the aircraft reported to KPTV that they heard a tremendous blast and observed a hole in the wall where a window had blown out. A child sitting near the window was allegedly drawn by the suction and had his shirt torn off.
A few passengers also misplaced their phones, which were drawn from the aircraft. Decompression also blew away a seat adjacent to the window.
Many passengers used the oxygen masks that had fallen from the jet while they waited for it to return to the airport. Six crew members and 174 passengers were on board the aircraft.
Alaska Airlines grounded all of its Boeing 737-9 planes after the incident. According to sources like Livemint, Ben Minicucci, the CEO of Alaska Airlines, addressed the same. He said:
“Following tonight's event on Flight 1282, we have decided to take the precautionary step of temporarily grounding our fleet of 65 Boeing 737-9 aircraft.”
Meanwhile, as soon as the photos and videos of the incident went viral on X, internet users flooded the comment section of the post uploaded by @DramaAlert to express their opinions regarding the whole thing.
In a statement, the Federal Aviation Administration stated that the crew reported experiencing a "pressurization issue." Both the National Transportation Safety Board authorities and the FAA said that they were opening investigations regarding the whole incident.
Nevertheless, shortly after the event, both Boeing and Alaska Airlines declared that they were in communication with the passengers. Luckily, as of right now, no injuries have been reported.
