An Alaska Airlines flight originating from Oregon and bound for Southern California underwent an emergency landing on Friday after a mid-air incident, during which a section of the aircraft’s side appeared to detach.
Flight 1282 safely landed at Portland International Airport, as confirmed by Port of Portland spokesperson Allison Ferre in an official statement.
Alaska Airlines reported no injuries among the 174 passengers and 6 crew members on board.
The Federal Aviation Administration stated that the aircraft returned to the airport due to “the crew reporting a pressurization issue.”
Alaska Airlines characterized the event as an “incident,” and a photograph taken by a passenger displayed an entire panel missing from one side of the fuselage, adjacent to a row of seats.
The circumstances surrounding the detachment of the panel from the passenger jet remain unclear, and the airline has not provided details on how or when it occurred.
Kyle Rinker shared an image from within the aircraft on social media platform X, accompanied by the caption, “Witnessing the plane’s wall simply breaking off mid-flight.”In a statement, Alaska Airlines emphasized, “The well-being of our guests and employees is always our top priority. While such occurrences are rare, our flight crew is extensively trained and equipped to safely handle any situation.”
The flight was originally headed to Ontario International Airport in San Bernardino County, California.
As per FlightAware, a flight tracking site, the aircraft departed from Portland at 5:07 p.m. and returned to Portland at 5:27 p.m.
The aircraft involved was identified as a Boeing 737 MAX 9.
Boeing acknowledged the incident in a statement, stating, “We are aware of the situation and are actively gathering more information. Our technical team is prepared to assist with the investigation in coordination with our airline customer.”
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and Alaska Airlines all confirmed their involvement in investigating the incident.