Alaska Airlines flight AS1282 from Portland, OR to Ontario, CA on January 5, 2024 with the pictured Boeing 737-9 MAX 9 N704AL with 171 passengers and six crew members on board experienced an inflight emergency approximately 20 minutes into the flight.

A door plug section (utilized as a window) separated from the fuselage and crew declared an emergency and and returned to PDX for a safe landing.

Alaska Airlines issued this statement:

A statement from Alaska Airlines CEO, Ben Minicucci:

At Alaska Airlines, safety is our foundational value and the most important thing we focus on every day. 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. Each aircraft will be returned to service only after completion of full maintenance and safety inspections. We anticipate all inspections will be completed in the next few days.

I am personally committed to doing everything we can to conduct this review in a timely and transparent way.

We are working with Boeing and regulators to understand what occurred tonight, and will share updates as more information is available. The NTSB is investigating this event and we will fully support their investigation.  

My heart goes out to those who were on this flight – I am so sorry for what you experienced. I am so grateful for the response of our pilots and flight attendants. We have teams on the ground in Portland assisting passengers and are working to support guests who are traveling in the days ahead.

-Ben

Top Copyright Photo: Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-9 MAX 9 N704AL (msn 67501) BFI (Nick Dean). Image: 961813.

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