The National Transportation Safety Board says the door plug that was blown out of an Alaska Airlines plane on Friday has been recovered. They’re hoping the development will help explain exactly what happened.
The panel from the fuselage was found Sunday night by a school teacher in Portland, Oregon and turned over to the NTSB. During searches over the weekend, two cell phones that were sucked out of the plane were also found. Despite the scare, no serious injuries were reported.
NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said the plane had just taken off from the Portland Airport when a panel blew off leaving a gaping hole as the aircraft was flying at 16-thousand feet. She says if the panel had blown off at higher altitude the results could have been much worse. Fortunately, the plane was able to make an emergency landing and no one was seriously hurt. Federal officials ordered the immediate grounding of some Boeing 737 Max 9 planes for safety inspections.
Reports said Spirit Aerosystems in Wichita manufactured and initially installed the fuselage part that had the blowout, but Boeing has a key role in the completion process. Spirit officials issued a statement Monday:
We are grateful the Alaska Airlines crew performed the appropriate procedures to land the airplane with all passengers and crew safe. At Spirit AeroSystems, our primary focus is the quality and product integrity of the aircraft structures we deliver.
Spirit is a committed partner with Boeing on the 737 program, and we continue to work together with them on this matter. Spirit is following the protocols set by the regulatory authorities that guide communication in these types of circumstances and we will share further information when appropriate.
