A Gaping Hole on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282
Photo credit: RickyCourtney (http://tinyurl.com/5623bj22)
How fortunate were the passengers and crew of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 that the door blew out at a lower altitude rather than during cruising!
It was indeed lucky that the Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 was still climbing at around 16,000 feet when the door plug blew off. The plane was at a lower altitude, and all passengers were securely buckled in.
Fortunately, the two seats closest to the gaping hole were unoccupied. Had any of these not being the case and if the passengers were not belted up, there could have been a high risk of them being sucked out.
A stark reminder of the potential consequences of such incidents is the tragic event on April 28, 1988, when a flight attendant was ejected from an Aloha Airlines Flight 243 due to explosive decompression caused by extensive damage to a Boeing 737.
Similarly, in an April 2017 Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 flight, a passenger was partially ejected from the aircraft, suffering fatal injuries during explosive depressurization caused by an engine cowl fragment damaging a cabin window.
Had the door incident on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 occurred during cruise, say at 35,000 feet, the suction force would have been much stronger, posing an even greater threat.
In such a scenario, the rapid loss of cabin pressure would cause unsecured items to be forcefully expelled towards the opening, fog forms and oxygen masks will drop.
Cabin temperatures would plummet to about minus 50 degrees Celsius and passengers without oxygen masks would be unconscious within 30 to 60 seconds.
In the instant case, the crew were caught by surprise when the cockpit door also blew open.
An NTSB official was annoyed as headlines accused Boeing of keeping this cockpit door opening a secret.
Well, this is not unique as it is common in all Boeing or Airbus airliners. Apparently, not many aircrews are aware of this.
Meanwhile, the captain would have to initiate an immediate emergency descent to a safe altitude at 10,000 feet or higher, depending on terrain considerations.
The most dangerous scenario would have been the blown off door colliding with the tail structure. Fortunately, this did not happen, resulting in a safe conclusion to the event.
Regrettably, 2024 has not started well concerning commercial aviation safety.
On January 2, 2024, a runway collision took place between a Japan Airlines Airbus A350 and a Coast Guard Dash 8 plane at Tokyo Haneda Airport, resulting in both aircraft catching fire.
Subsequently, on January 5, 2024, the Boeing 737 Max 9 Flight 1282 from Portland to Ontario, California experienced the door incident.
Fortunately, in both these major air safety events, there were no fatalities. All 379 individuals on JAL 516 survived the fiery crash and the 171 passengers on board Flight 1282 were also very fortunate as the blowout happened at a low altitude rather than during the cruise.
View a YouTube video ‘Passenger shares terrifying experience from Alaska Airlines Flight 1282’