Alaska Airlines flight 1282 returns to Portland after a depressurization just after takeoff
PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) — An Alaska Airlines flight from Portland to Ontario, California suffered a depressurization Friday afternoon.
Alaska flight 1282 left Portland just after 5 p.m. and was able to make it back to PDX without further incident.
Once the plane was back on the ground, KATU News has confirmed the missing part of the fuselage is actually an exit door.
Robert Katz, a commercial pilot and flight instructor, tells KATU News that the door must have been ripped off violently according to the photos he has seen.
“Portland approach, Alaska 1282 emergency! Aircraft is now leveling 12,000 in a left turn heading three four zero,” An Alaska pilot can be heard saying on recordings obtained from LIVEATC.net.
Stephanie King was a passenger on the flight and shared this video of the plane touching down at PDX.
Evan Smith was visiting Portland and was on the flight. "You heard a big loud bang to the left rear. A whooshing sound and all the oxygen masks deployed instantly and everyone got those on."
According to the flight tracking website FlightRadar24.com, the aircraft reached an altitude of 16,000 feet before turning back to the airport.
“We are emergency, we are depressurized, we do need to return back to, we have 177 passengers. Fuel is eighteen eight," the pilot says after air traffic control granted the plane clearance to a lower altitude.
There was a boy and his mother sitting in that row and his shirt was sucked off him and out of the plane. His mother was holding on to him," Smith said.
Alaska Airlines issued a statement saying, "Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 from Portland, Oregon to Ontario, California, experienced an incident this evening soon after departure. The aircraft landed safely back at Portland International Airport with 174 guests and 6 crew members. We are investigating what happened and will share more information as it becomes available."
Passenger Elizabeth shot this video and posted it to her TikTok account. She tells KATU News that she is glad everyone is okay.
According to FAA record posted online, the Boeing 737-9 MAX rolled off the assembly line just two months ago, receiving its certification in November 2023.
At about 9:30 p.m. Friday, Boeing issued a statement: "We are aware of the incident involving Alaska Airlines Flight #AS1282. We are working to gather more information and are in contact with our airline customer. A Boeing technical team stands ready to support the investigation."
At 11:40 p.m., Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci issued a statement:
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
Information for impacted guests:
Guests whose flights have been impacted by this grounding are being notified with guidance on next steps and are also encouraged to visit alaskaair.com for self-service options. We deeply apologize to our guests and are working to reaccommodate everyone as quickly as possible.
This is a developing story, and we will update this as more information becomes available.