Alaska Airlines accident could have been ‘much more tragic,’ NTSB official says
Tragedy may have been averted Friday night when a panel of a Boeing plane blew out as an Alaska Airlines flight traveled at 16,000 feet, an NTSB official said Saturday night.
Tragedy may have been averted Friday night when a panel of a Boeing plane blew out as an Alaska Airlines flight traveled at 16,000 feet, an NTSB official said Saturday night.
Seats adjacent to the blowout, which occurred 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.
Photo of missing panel. The midair incident prompted the Alaska Airlines flight to make an emergency landing in Portland, Ore., on Friday.Courtesy Kyle Rinker“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.
Rating: 5