Alaska Airlines blowout: 170 planes grounded after dramatic mid-air incident on new aircraft stuns aviation experts
More than 170 Boeing planes worldwide have been temporarily grounded after a chunk of fuselage dramatically blew out of a brand-new passenger jet in mid-air.
US regulators say immediate inspections are needed after an Alaska Airlines plane suffered a cabin emergency shortly after take-off on Friday.
Photos showed a gaping hole in the side of the Boeing 737-9 MAX – and although the jet landed safely with more than 170 passengers and six crew in Oregon, phones and a boy’s shirt were sucked out of the plane.
A gaping hole could be seen in the side of the aircraft. Pic: Kyle Rinker
Investigators are now hunting for the fuselage that blew off, and believe it is in a small suburb of Portland called Cedar Hills. Anyone who finds it is being urged to contact the police.
Jennifer Homendy, the chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, told reporters that “we are very lucky” that the accident wasn’t far worse.
She revealed no one was sat in the seats immediately next to the fuselage – and because the plane had not reached cruising altitude, passengers and crew were not moving around the cabin.
Warning “there is a lot of work to do”, she stressed: “We have the safest aviation system in the world. It is incredibly safe. We are the global gold standard for safety around the world, but we have to maintain that standard.”
Ms Homendy said no serious injuries have been reported, but added it would have been a “pretty terrifying event” that affected passengers psychologically.
Pic: Elizabeth Le/AP
Alaska and United Airlines, which both have 737-9 MAXs in their fleets, have made dozens of cancellations and say it could be days until grounded planes return to service. Five aircraft belonging to Turkish Airlines are also being examined as a precaution.
It takes up to eight hours to inspect each aircraft, and the Federal Aviation Administration has warned more action may be taken.
While no 737 MAX-9 planes are registered in the UK, the Civil Aviation Authority has asked all foreign airlines to perform inspections before flying into British airspace.
The Alaska Airlines aircraft involved in Friday’s incident had entered service just eight weeks earlier – and the fuselage that blew off covered a space reserved for an extra evacuation door.
While Boeing has welcomed the temporary groundings, it’s another blow for a company still trying to recover from two high-profile crashes that left its reputation in tatters.
Read more:
What ‘very dangerous’ blowout means for flights
Exterior photos suggest the rear mid-cabin exit door separated from the aircraft during the flight. Pic: KGW
Incident leaves experts stunned
Anthony Brickhouse, a professor of aerospace safety, said he was stunned that a piece of fuselage would fly off a new aircraft.
And while panels have come off planes before, he couldn’t recall an incident that left passengers “looking at the lights of the city”.
He added: “I can’t imagine what these passengers experienced. The wind would be rushing through that cabin.
“It was probably a pretty violent situation, and definitely a scary situation.”
Mr Brickhouse said it was a powerful reminder that passengers should stay buckled in throughout a flight.
And David Learmount, consulting editor at Flightglobal, told Sky News: “If there were people near it who were not wearing the seatbelts, they would have disappeared.”
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Flight was ‘trip from hell’
‘I am so sorry for what you experienced’
Passengers on board Flight 1282 – which was travelling from Portland in Oregon to Ontario in California – have been describing their ordeal.
“You heard a big loud bang to the left rear. A whooshing sound and all the oxygen masks deployed instantly and everyone got those on,” Evan Smith told local media.
Another passenger called Elizabeth told KGW that the incident happened about 20 minutes after take-off, in the sky three miles above Oregon.
“I looked to my left, and there’s just this huge gaping hole, on the left side where the window is,” she said – describing the sound of the wind as incredibly loud.
Elizabeth said passengers and crew were calm and everybody had their seatbelt on – and a recording showed the pilot also remained composed throughout.
She was heard asking air traffic controllers for permission to descend to 10,000ft after the cabin depressurised, an altitude where healthy people can breathe without additional oxygen.
The pilot subsequently declared an emergency and said that the plane needed to return to Portland.
Alaska Airlines chief executive Ben Minicucci said: “My heart goes out to those who were on this flight – I am so sorry for what you experienced.”
US
Donald Trump ambushes South African president at White House meeting by playing video alleging ‘genocide’
Donald Trump has ambushed South Africa’s president during a White House meeting by playing a video purportedly showing evidence of a “genocide” of white farmers in the African country.
The US president, who was hosting leader Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office, said the footage showed the graves of more than a thousand white farmers and “it’s a terrible sight… I’ve never seen anything like it. Those people are all killed”.
After an initial friendly chat where Mr Trump complimented South African golfers in the room, a montage of clips was played as Mr Ramaphosa sat quietly and mostly expressionless. He later said: “I’d like to know where that is because this [the alleged burial site in the video] I’ve never seen”.
Donald Trump met Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office. Pic: AP
The lights were dimmed in the Oval Office as the clips were shown, including of South African officials allegedly calling for violence against white farmers.
The scene in the heart of the White House administration was reminiscent of Mr Trump’s ambush of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in February.
But later, as he left after around three hours at the White House, Mr Ramaphosa insisted his meeting with Mr Trump went “very well”.
And he told a news conference: “There is just no genocide in South Africa.”
The White House’s official account on X posted the footage that was shown in the Oval Office, saying it was “proof of persecution in South Africa”.
South Africa has rejected the allegation that white people are disproportionately targeted by crime.
The clips included one of communist politician Julius Malema playing a controversial anti-apartheid song that includes lyrics about killing a farmer.
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Mr Trump accused South Africa of failing to address the killing of white farmers.
“We have many people that feel they’re being persecuted, and they’re coming to the United States. So we take from many… locations, if we feel there’s persecution or genocide going on,” the US president said, referring specifically to white farmers.
He added: “People are fleeing South Africa for their own safety. Their land is being confiscated and in many cases they’re being killed.”
Alluding to people in the clips, Mr Trump said: “These are people that are officials and they’re saying… kill the white farmer and take their land.”
The US president then displayed printed copies of news articles that he said showed white South Africans who had been killed, saying “death, death” as he flipped through them.
He added of one article: “Here’s burial sites all over the place, these are all white farmers that are being buried.”
Mr Trump held up news articles. Pic: AP
South African leader rejects allegations
Mr Ramaphosa pushed back against Mr Trump’s accusations, by responding: “What you saw, the speeches that were being made, that is not government policy. We have a multi-party democracy in South Africa that allows people to express themselves, political parties to adhere to various policies.
“And in many cases, or in some cases, those policies do not go along with government policy.
“Our government policy is completely, completely against what he [a person in the video montage] was saying, even in the parliament. And they are a small minority party which is allowed to exist in terms of our constitution.”
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Mr Ramaphosa also said of the behaviour alleged by Mr Trump: “We are completely opposed to that.”
The South African leader said there was crime in his country, and the majority of victims were black. Mr Trump cut him off and said: “The farmers are not black.” The South African president responded: “These are concerns we are willing to talk to you about.”
Mr Trump and Mr Ramaphosa looked towards a screen where a video was played. Pic: Reuters
The video was shown during the White House meeting. Pic: AP
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In February, Mr Trump issued an executive order which cut all funding to South Africa over some of its domestic and foreign policies. He also expelled South Africa’s ambassador and offered refuge to white minority Afrikaners based on racial discrimination claims which Pretoria says are baseless.
Experts in South Africa have said there is no evidence of white people being targeted, although farmers of all races are victims of violent home invasions in a country that suffers from a very high crime rate.
The Trump administration has officially accepted a luxury jet that will be used as Air Force One as a gift from Qatar, the Pentagon said.
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth accepted the $400m Boeing 747 and has tasked his department with working to upgrade the plane to make it safe for use by the president.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the plane – dubbed a “palace-in-the-sky” – was accepted “in accordance with all federal rules and regulations”.
Mr Trump has faced scrutiny over the jet, with critics questioning whether receiving the aircraft from the Qatari royal family violates constitutional laws on gifts from foreign governments.
Trump meets Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, in Doha, Qatar earlier this month. Pic: Reuters
The US president has rubbished concerns, telling reporters last week: “I think it’s a great gesture from Qatar.
“I appreciate it very much. I would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer.
“I mean, I could be a stupid person saying: ‘No, we don’t want a free, very expensive airplane’.”
Pic: Amac Aerospace
The gift came up during Mr Trump’s recent trip to the Middle East.
During the tour, he posted on his Truth Social platform: “Why should our military, and therefore our taxpayers, be forced to pay hundreds of millions of Dollars when they can get it for FREE.”
Read more:
Inside Air Force One
Trump ambushes South African president
While the plane itself has been gifted, refitting the aircraft to meet security requirements could be costly – with Sky News’ US partner NBC reporting the bill could be as high as $1bn.
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In a bid to quiet some opposition, Mr Trump has said he will not keep the plane after his term finishes, instead donating it to a future presidential library.
However, that has done little to quell anger – which has even come from within the Republican party.
Senator Josh Hawley previously said: “My view is that it would be better if Air Force One were a big, beautiful jet made in the United States of America. That would be ideal.”
Boeing has been working to finish new Air Force One jets for years, and the president has previously complained about the delays. But the Trump administration has presented no national security imperative for a swift upgrade, rather than waiting for those to be ready.
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