Alaska Airlines blowout: Passenger describes being on Flight 1282 - BBC News

Cuong Tran says the seatbelt saved his life as a gaping hole suddenly appeared after take-off.

5 hours agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage caption, Cuong Tran next to the gaping hole after landingBy Thomas MackintoshBBC NewsA Californian man has described "holding on for dear life" as he sat on an Alaska Airlines flight inches away from a gaping hole which appeared when an unused door flew off mid-flight.

Cuong Tran told the BBC his seat belt saved him as his phone, socks and shoes were ripped off by an uncontrolled decompression 16,000ft above Portland.

He is among seven passengers to have filed a lawsuit against Boeing, Alaska Airlines and Spirit AeroSystems.

The companies declined to comment.

Images shared online - and later by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) - showed a wide hole in the side of the Boeing 737-9 Max aircraft, with oxygen masks dangling from the ceiling on 5 January.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68583149

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