Boeing facing more questions after mid-air panel blowout

US authorities ground latest Max 737 jets after 'catastrophic' crashes involving older models

Boeing plane with hole in the side from incident
An emergency exit on the Alaska Airlines flight blew out soon after taking off from Portland, Oregon
(Image credit: National Transportation Safety Board via AP)

Aircraft manufacturer Boeing is facing scrutiny after an emergency exit door on one of its planes blew out during a flight, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the fuselage.

Dramatic footage captured the incident on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 on 5 January, just minutes after the jet – a Boeing 737 Max – took off from Portland International Airport. 

The panel was found in the back garden of a school teacher in Oregon late on Sunday, "giving investigators a key clue as they try to piece together" what happened, said The Wall Street Journal. Two mobile phones, believed to have fallen from the plane, have also been found.

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Fortunately, no passengers had been seated directly next to the damaged section of the plane, although one witness reported a young boy seated nearby had his "shirt torn off him and sucked out of the plane", said Sky News. The pilot was able to make a safe emergency landing with all 171 passengers and six crew members.

The impact was "reduced by two key factors", said the BBC. The plane, which was only two months old, was ascending, so passengers were wearing seatbelts, keeping them safe in their seats, and was flying at 16,300ft rather than its 38,000ft cruising height. At that higher level, the "sudden rush of air would have been much more violent, and potentially lethal".

In the wake of the latest incident the US Federal Aviation Administration has temporarily grounded 171 aircraft for inspections, a decision Boeing said it "fully supports". 

Rebekah Evans joined The Week as newsletter editor in 2023 and has written on subjects ranging from Ukraine and Afghanistan to fast fashion and "brotox". She started her career at Reach plc, where she cut her teeth on news, before pivoting into personal finance at the height of the pandemic and cost-of-living crisis. Social affairs is another of her passions, and she has interviewed people from across the world and from all walks of life. Rebekah completed an NCTJ with the Press Association and has written for publications including The Guardian, The Week magazine, the Press Association and local newspapers.