Turbulence Strikes Alaska Airlines Flight 1282: A Startling Bang, Roaring Winds, and a Young Boy's Shirt Vanishes
Terrifying ordeal on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282: A sudden explosion tore a hole in the plane, violently sucking a young boy's shirt off his body and through the rupture, leaving his terrified mother clutching onto him for dear life
Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 had a brief and terrifying experience on Friday that could have been even more serious. Shortly after takeoff, a part of the fuselage blew off, causing a boy's shirt to be sucked off his torso and out through the hole, according to passenger reports. The mother was left holding onto the boy during this frightening incident.
A man's voice can be heard in a video posted on Twitter by passenger Stephanie King, exclaiming "It tore off her son's shirt!"
According to FlightAware, the flight had ascended to 16,000 feet after departing from Portland, Oregon, en route to Ontario, California, at around 5:07 p.m. It safely landed back at the airport about 20 minutes later, with no major injuries reported among the 171 passengers and six crew members.
Saturday morning was confusion as a plane part blew off, leading Alaska Airlines to ground its entire Boeing 737-9 Max fleet. Passengers were startled when a panel, including a window, suddenly popped off shortly after takeoff, according to Kyle Rinker who spoke to CNN. He described the event as "really abrupt" and said it happened just after reaching altitude.
"We heard a loud bang coming from the left rear. We also heard a whooshing sound, and suddenly all the oxygen masks were deployed and everyone put them on," passenger Evan Smith informed CNN affiliate KATU.
"We would like to descend," the pilot informed air traffic control in a recording posted on liveatc.net. "We are declaring an emergency and need to descend to 10,000."
After receiving permission to descend to a lower altitude, the pilot informed air traffic control, "We have an emergency situation, our aircraft is depressurized, and we need to return to the airport. We have 177 passengers on board. Fuel level is at eighteen eight."
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Alaska Airlines flight makes emergency landing after window pops off
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Passenger Emma Vu said passengers comforted each other.
Vu told CNN that the flight attendant reassured him that everything would be okay. He was grateful for her kindness, especially during a stressful time when everyone else on the flight was panicking. Kings video captured the moment when passengers applauded as the plane safely landed.
Some passengers stood up. Flight attendants reminded them to remain seated.
One man can be heard saying, "Theres a fin hole inside the plane. What the f is that?"
This is a developing story and will be updated.
CNNs Pete Muntean and Andy Rose contributed to this report.
