An Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX-9 aircraft had to make an emergency landing earlier today, following a rapid decompression following a rear emergency exit blowing out mid-air.
What Happened
Alaska Airlines flight 1282 was operating a flight between Portland International (PDX) and Ontario International (ONT), with 171 passengers and 6 crew onboard, when 20 minutes into the flight, at around 16,000ft, a rear emergency exit detached from the aircraft and blew out, leaving a gaping hole in the fuselage of the aircraft.
The aircraft’s oxygen masks immediately deployed and the aircraft began an emergency descent to 10,000ft, the initial staging altitude for such emergencies, below which breathing is considered possible for healthy people without extra oxygen. Declaring an emergency with Portland air-traffic controllers, the pilots said “We’d like to get down”, “We are declaring an emergency.” It is not clear at this moment in time what caused the exit to separate from the aircraft, but Alaska Airlines has issued a statement:
“The safety of our guests and employees is always our primary priority, so while this type of occurrence is rare, our flight crew was trained and prepared to safely manage the situation.”
Manufacturer Boeing also issued a statement about the incident saying:
“We are working to gather more information and are in contact with our airline customer,” it said. “A Boeing technical team stands ready to support the investigation.”
What Next for the 737 MAX-9?
Alaska Airlines has immediately grounded their whole fleet of 63 Boeing 737 MAX-9 aircraft, pending inspection and safety checks. Representatives for the airline, the F.A.A and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have said they are investigating what has happened, with the NTSB launching a ‘go team’ to Portland to investigate the incident.
Boeing’s 737 MAX aircraft have a troubled history. Following two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019, the aircraft was grounded around the world. This grounding lasted 20 months, ending on 18 November 2020 by the F.A.A: The longest ever grounding of a U.S airliner.
Travel Radar will bring you developments as the investigation gets underway.
