On January 5th, Alaska Airlines flight 1282 utilizing a Boeing 737 MAX 9 departed Portland, Oregon, bound for Southern California. What should have been a routine flight took a terrifying turn when a door plug malfunctioned at 16,000 feet, causing rapid depressurization. Thankfully, the plane landed safely back in Portland with no major injuries, but the experience left some passengers with lasting emotional scars.
Four of those passengers have now filed a lawsuit against both Alaska Airlines and Boeing, seeking compensation for the “havoc, fear, trauma, severe and extreme distress, and other injuries” they sustained during the incident. The lawsuit alleges that both companies were negligent in their actions leading up to the event.
Alaska Airlines in the Spotlight
The lawsuit claims that Alaska Airlines knew about issues with the aircraft’s pressurization system before flight 1282. Specifically, a warning light indicating a potential problem had illuminated on three previous occasions. While the airline grounded the plane for flights over water due to this issue, it still allowed it to fly over land, a decision the lawsuit calls “risky” and “endangering passengers.”
The lawsuit also points the finger at Boeing, the aircraft manufacturer. It alleges that the door plug was either defectively designed or manufactured, lacked sufficient redundancy, and was not properly tested before being put into service.
The incident has raised serious questions about the safety of the Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft and the practices of Alaska Airlines. The National Transportation Safety Board is currently investigating the cause of the decompression, and both companies are facing scrutiny from regulators and the public.
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