Alaska Airlines 737-900 MAX loses a door in-flight out of PDX
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Alaska Airlines 737-900 MAX loses a door in-flight out of PDX
An almost brand new AS Max 9 has lost an entire window section during an explosive decompression event just out of Portland. Photos below show reported damage
Looks like an emergency exit went. The hole is designed to be there - but it is supposed to have an exit door remain inside of it until a more normal emergency happens.
I hope the cause is found quickly.
I hope the cause is found quickly.
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It’s gonna be something like the wrong material rivets or hiloks used at factory to put the plug in. Just took this many cycles to happen. If smoking was allowed in planes still it may have been prevented 
Video from inside while flying -
Video from inside while flying -
Last edited by MLHeliwrench; 6th Jan 2024 at 03:34.
The plug will be an exit door with an internal panel to cover access to the release mechanism so no rivets or hiloks. In that case I'd guess the exit door wasn't properly latched before the interior panel was installed. Queue up an inspection of all such installations.
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Alaska Airlines 737-900 MAX loses a door in-flight out of PDX
An Alaska Airlines flight from Portland, Oregon to Ontario, California was forced to make an emergency landing after suffering depressurization after takeoff.
Alaska flight 1282 left Portland just after 5pm local time on Friday when a window blew out at 16,000 feet, ripping a child's shirt off.
The Boeing 737-9 MAX rolled off the assembly line just two months ago, receiving its certification in November 2023, according to FAA record posted online.
How could this happen? I thought they were plug doors that open inwards...
Footage from inside the cabin... you can see the lights of Portland below!
https://www.tiktok.com/@strawberr.vy...393710?lang=en
One Twitter user suggesting that the door is actually deactivated for carriers such as Alaska and not used - therefore anyone sitting there would not have even known that it was a door of sorts.
Alaska flight 1282 left Portland just after 5pm local time on Friday when a window blew out at 16,000 feet, ripping a child's shirt off.
The Boeing 737-9 MAX rolled off the assembly line just two months ago, receiving its certification in November 2023, according to FAA record posted online.
How could this happen? I thought they were plug doors that open inwards...
Footage from inside the cabin... you can see the lights of Portland below!
https://www.tiktok.com/@strawberr.vy...393710?lang=en
One Twitter user suggesting that the door is actually deactivated for carriers such as Alaska and not used - therefore anyone sitting there would not have even known that it was a door of sorts.
Last edited by JohnnyRocket; 6th Jan 2024 at 04:39.
If it is a plug, then it would need to be brought inside slightly and turned to go outward; the stops are still visible so unlikely it just blew out, more to the story?
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It looks like an entire panel blew out, including the emergency exit.
https://katu.com/news/local/alaska-a...oeing-737-max#
https://katu.com/news/local/alaska-a...oeing-737-max#
Wow. At 16,000 ft the cabin differential surely wouldn’t be more than say 5psi. The passenger were lucky it occurred so low, at FL390, it might have been somewhat less amusing.
Anyhow, a happy ending, which is always good.
Anyhow, a happy ending, which is always good.
It is to plug the hole, not a plug style door, though there is flexibility as to what marketing term is used. The same arrangement pictured here, on an Airbus, has been referred to as a plug style door.
The original design was true plug design, requiring passengers to manhandle the door from a sideways position back into the cabin. This was seen as a problem and seems to have been replaced with an outwardly opening door, hinged at the top and counterbalanced, that has an electromagnetically operated catch to prevent just this sort of operation. Since this wasn't intended for emergency evacuation I wonder if it had the top hinge or the catch. I suspect not.
Looks like a lot of forest to search to find the door. Start checking eBay and Craigslist.
The original design was true plug design, requiring passengers to manhandle the door from a sideways position back into the cabin. This was seen as a problem and seems to have been replaced with an outwardly opening door, hinged at the top and counterbalanced, that has an electromagnetically operated catch to prevent just this sort of operation. Since this wasn't intended for emergency evacuation I wonder if it had the top hinge or the catch. I suspect not.
Looks like a lot of forest to search to find the door. Start checking eBay and Craigslist.
Thread Starter
AS to ground entire Max 9 fleet for inspection
https://news.alaskaair.com/alaska-ai...tions/as-1282/
https://news.alaskaair.com/alaska-ai...tions/as-1282/
The original design was true plug design, requiring passengers to manhandle the door from a sideways position back into the cabin. This was seen as a problem and seems to have been replaced with an outwardly opening door, hinged at the top and counterbalanced, that has an electromagnetically operated catch to prevent just this sort of operation.
Can someone confirm if AS actually has an exit door installed, or it is just a fuselage plug ? This door is required to meet certification standards for high density seating, but many airlines with lower density seating opt not to have it installed (saving on cost, weight and maintenance), and the hole is covered with a fixed plug. To me the picture suggests that there was no door but a covering wall panel on the inside, and the seat row pitch also does not look like an exit row.
source BBC news: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-67899564
keep those seatbelts loosely fastened
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An Alaska Airlines flight from Portland, Oregon to Ontario, California was forced to make an emergency landing after suffering depressurization after takeoff.
Alaska flight 1282 left Portland just after 5pm local time on Friday when a window blew out at 16,000 feet, ripping a child's shirt off.
The Boeing 737-9 MAX rolled off the assembly line just two months ago, receiving its certification in November 2023, according to FAA record posted online.
How could this happen? I thought they were plug doors that open inwards...
Footage from inside the cabin... you can see the lights of Portland below!
https://www.tiktok.com/@strawberr.vy...393710?lang=en
One Twitter user suggesting that the door is actually deactivated for carriers such as Alaska and not used - therefore anyone sitting there would not have even known that it was a door of sorts.
https://twitter.com/jonostrower/stat...66899869147549
Alaska flight 1282 left Portland just after 5pm local time on Friday when a window blew out at 16,000 feet, ripping a child's shirt off.
The Boeing 737-9 MAX rolled off the assembly line just two months ago, receiving its certification in November 2023, according to FAA record posted online.
How could this happen? I thought they were plug doors that open inwards...
Footage from inside the cabin... you can see the lights of Portland below!
https://www.tiktok.com/@strawberr.vy...393710?lang=en
One Twitter user suggesting that the door is actually deactivated for carriers such as Alaska and not used - therefore anyone sitting there would not have even known that it was a door of sorts.
https://twitter.com/jonostrower/stat...66899869147549