Passengers on the Alaska Airlines flight that was forced to make an emergency landing after part of its plane fell mid-air said the ordeal was loud and frightening.
Passenger Evan Granger, who was sitting in an exit row seat on the 16th floor, said he heard a “loud bang” followed by “a gust of wind” about 20 minutes into Friday’s flight. He said both his ears were stuffed up.
“I didn’t want to turn around to see what was going on,” Granger told NBC News. “My focus at that moment was simply to breathe into the oxygen mask and trust that the crew would do everything in their power to keep us safe. ”
“There are a lot of things that had to go right for us all to survive,” Granger acknowledged, adding that he was “very grateful” to land safely.
Elizabeth Le, of Portland, Oregon, said she heard a loud bang on Friday about 20 minutes into the flight’s route from Portland to Ontario, California.
“Suddenly, I heard what sounded like a loud bang, and I didn’t know exactly what was going on, but I looked up and saw an oxygen mask hanging from the ceiling,” Lee told a Southern California news outlet. Told. OC Hawk. “And then I looked to the left and there was a big chunk that looked like part of the plane was missing.”
Mr Lee said a “very large” wind blew into the plane, but passengers remained seated and wearing their seatbelts.
“The wind was so strong I couldn’t think straight,” she said.
She added: She said: “I couldn’t believe my eyes. There was a gaping hole. I could see the city and the stars and everything outside the window. It was crazy.”
Lee said no one was sitting in the window seat in the row immediately next to where part of the plane fell, but a mother and son were in the middle and aisle seats in that row. That’s what it means.
Lee said she later heard that the mother had to hold her teenage son tightly to keep him from being sucked out of the plane, adding that the son was very red because his shirt had blown off, probably due to the strong winds. Ta.
Another passenger, Jessica Montoya, told OC Hawk that part of the wall appeared to come off as the plane reached 10,000 feet.
“I flew for another three or four minutes and then I heard a crackling sound and all the oxygen masks fell off,” she said. “I wasn’t scared. I don’t know why. No one really screamed.”
Montoya said he spoke to someone after the incident and was told his shirt and cell phone had been “sucked out” from the plane.
“It’s been a hell of a journey,” Montoya said.
Photos from passengers showed that the entire side panel of the plane’s seat row was missing. A panel known as a door plug came loose from the plane at about 16,000 feet, National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said at a news conference Saturday night.
Passenger Stan Sigstad also said he heard a “pop” followed by strong winds “coming forward and then coming back and hitting me in the face.”
Sigstad said he is not afraid either.
“I was a little nervous,” he told OC Hawk. “But I said to God, ‘I trust you.'”
The US Federal Aviation Administration said the crew “reported a pressurization issue” when parts of the plane came loose, leaving a large hole.
Le, Montoya and Sigstad all noted that the passengers and crew were surprisingly calm during the flight.
Montoya praised the flight attendants for remaining calm, and Sigstad added that the “calmness” in the pilot’s voice “kept everyone calm.”
Flight 1282, carrying 174 passengers and six crew members, landed safely at Portland International Airport.
The FAA has ordered some Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft to be grounded for inspection, affecting approximately 171 aircraft worldwide.