Alaska Airlines mid-air Boeing blowout: What next for flights and 737 aircraft, according to experts
Dramatic footage shows the moments after a window and chunk of fuselage blew out of a passenger plane in mid-air, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the Boeing 737-9 MAX.
One Alaska Airlines passenger on the affected flight said a boy and his mother were sitting in the same row as the damage and the boy’s shirt was torn off him and sucked out of the plane.
While only minor injuries were reported, the situation could have been “very dangerous,” according to David Learmount, consulting editor at Flightglobal. “If there were people near it who were not wearing the seatbelts they would have disappeared,” he told Sky News.
Alaska Airlines grounded all of its Boeing 737-9 MAX planes in response to the incident, which caused the cabin to depressurise and resulted in the plane making an emergency landing in the US state of Oregon.
The Federal Aviation Administration later said it would order the temporary grounding of some Boeing 737-9 MAX aircraft operated by some US airlines or in US territory.
Boeing said it “fully supports” the administration’s decision to require inspections of 737-9 MAX planes “with the
same configuration” as the aircraft that was forced to land.
It is the latest issue for Boeing, the world’s largest aerospace company, after its 737 MAX aircraft were grounded for a year and a half following two crashes in 2018 and 2019.
A gaping hole could be seen in the side of the aircraft. Pic: Kyle Rinker
Could the Boeing 737 MAX be grounded again?
Aviation experts said the incident involving the Alaska Airlines 737-9 MAX is “extremely unlikely” to lead to all planes of the same type being grounded.
“The issue with grounding aeroplanes is not the problem, the issue is ungrounding them,” Tim Atkinson, a pilot and aviation consultant, told Sky News. “Once you ground an aeroplane how you unground it is the really difficult piece. For that reason, groundings are vanishingly rare and they are always for something way more significant than this.”
He added: “Aviation safety works by statistics, what I call rolling the sky dice. So far nobody has been killed, remember it took the second MAX crash before the planes were grounded [in 2019].”
Exterior photos suggest the rear mid-cabin exit door came off during the flight. Pic: KGW
The MAX, the latest version of Boeing’s 737, is a twin-engine single-aisle plane which went into service in May 2017.
Mr Learmount said airlines running the planes would likely react by launching inspections of their fleets.
“The MAX is getting a bit of a caning. Just when you thought everything is fine,” he said. “If I was in charge of an airline with any MAXs in it I would be inspecting the area where this happened.”
The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) have announced they will investigate the event, while the British Civil Aviation Authority is monitoring the situation.
The FAA announced the temporary grounding of some 737-9 MAX planes on Saturday afternoon.
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Mr Learmount said Alaska Airlines and Boeing would be looking to find out “exactly what the problem was”, adding: “Is this a design or a manufacturing fault or has the aircraft suffered damage which has shown itself later?”
He said he doubted the incident would dent passenger confidence in Boeing 737 MAX planes, but added: “There may be some nervous fliers who will shy away from flying on MAXs.”
Mr Atkinson said it is unlikely the issue with the Alaska Airlines flight could have been catastrophic for an entire aircraft – but that it could still have been deadly.
He said: “This is the kind of thing that might cause at worse one or two fatalities from people being sucked out of the aeroplane. It’s never going to be worse than that.”
He added the board of Alaska Airlines may be “kicking themselves all the way down the yard” for grounding its fleet.
“I think largely this is about a minor technical problem on a plane and a significant overreaction,” he said.
After the Alaska Airlines incident, a Boeing spokesperson said: “We are aware of the incident involving Alaska Airlines Flight 1282. We are working to gather more information and are in contact with our airline customer.
“A Boeing technical team stands ready to support the investigation.”
Why were Boeing’s 737 MAX aircraft grounded in 2019?
All of Boeing’s MAX passenger jets were grounded in March 2019 for 20 months after two crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia which killed 346 people between them.
Both disasters were caused by an automated flight-control system that pushed the aircraft’s nose down based on faulty sensor readings, with the pilots unable to regain control.
Wreckage from the Ethiopia Airlines crash in 2019. Pic: AP
After its planes were grounded Boeing worked on software upgrades and new safety precautions to the flight control system linked to both crashes and the jets returned to service in December 2020.
The company also implemented flight control updates, maintenance work, fresh pilot training and meetings with flight crews to explain its changes and address concerns.
Mr Learmount said Boeing “worked very hard” to fix problems with the 737 MAX.
The company “went back to square one”, he said, adding: “The MAX has made them completely start again from the ground up with their whole philosophy about what it is to be a world-class designer and manufacturer of aeroplanes.”
Wreckage from the Lion Air crash in Indonesia in 2018. Pic: AP
What other problems have there been with the Boeing 737 MAX?
Boeing has had to work to fix other manufacturing flaws with its 737 MAXs which have interrupted deliveries of the planes.
Last year the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) told pilots flying the MAX 8 and MAX 9 to limit the use of an anti-ice system in dry conditions over concerns inlets around the engine could overheat and break away, possibly striking the plane and causing rapid decompression.
An engine fan blade broke off an older 737 during a Southwest Airlines flight in 2018, striking and shattering a window, and killing a woman.
Last month Boeing told airlines to inspect the planes for a possible loose bolt in the rudder-control system.
Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy has met Israel’s prime minister in an effort to secure a ceasefire deal in Gaza before the president-elect takes office on 20 January.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed details of the meeting with Steve Witkoff on Saturday, adding that the head of the Israeli Mossad intelligence agency has been deployed to Qatar in order to “advance” talks.
It was not immediately clear when David Barnea would travel to Doha for the latest round of indirect discussions between Israel and Hamas.
Earlier on Saturday, an Israeli official said some progress had been made, mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the United States, to reach a deal in Gaza.
Ronen Bar (left), director of Israel’s security agency, and David Barnea (right), head of Mossad, at a ceremony marking the 7 October Hamas attack. File pic: Reuters
The mediators are making renewed efforts to halt fighting in Gaza and free the remaining Israeli hostages held there before Mr Trump takes office.
A deal would also involve the release of some Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
Families of Israeli hostages welcomed Mr Netanyahu’s decision to dispatch the officials, with the Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters describing it as a “historic opportunity”.
Mr Witkoff arrived in Doha on Friday and met the Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Qatar’s foreign ministry said.
Egyptian and Qatari mediators received reassurances from Mr Witkoff that the US would continue to work towards a fair deal to end the war soon, Egyptian security sources said, though no further details were released.
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Israel launched its assault on Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed across its borders in October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures.
Families of the roughly 100 hostages still held in Gaza are pressing Mr Netanyahu to reach a deal to bring their loved ones home.
Since then, more than 46,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials, with much of the area destroyed and gripped by a humanitarian crisis, with most of its population displaced.
Pope Francis has been honoured with America’s highest civilian award by President Joe Biden, who has described the pontiff as “a light of faith, hope, and love that shines brightly across the world”.
It is the first time Mr Biden, 82, has given the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction during his four years in office.
In a statement, the White House said the award is “presented to individuals who have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public or private endeavours”.
Mr Biden had been scheduled to present the medal to Pope Francis, 88, in person on Saturday in Rome on what was to be the final overseas trip of his presidency. But the president cancelled his visit to monitor the California wildfires.
The White House said Mr Biden bestowed the award during a phone call in which they also discussed efforts to promote peace and alleviate suffering around the world.
President Joe Biden presented Bono with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Pic: AP
Denzel Washington was also recognised. Pic: AP
Michael J Fox was bestowed with the honour. Pic: AP
The award can be presented with or without distinction.
Mr Biden presented the medal of freedom – without distinction – on 5 January to several people including fellow Democrat Hillary Clinton, humanitarian and U2 singer Bono, fashion designer Ralph Lauren and actors Michael J Fox and Denzel Washington.
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Mr Biden himself is a recipient of the award with distinction, recognised when he was vice president by then president Barack Obama in a surprise ceremony eight years ago.
Barack Obama presented Joe Biden with the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction in 2017. File pic: AP
The citation for the pope’s honour said his “mission of serving the poor has never ceased”.
“A loving pastor, he joyfully answers children’s questions about God. A challenging teacher, he commands us to fight for peace and protect the planet. A welcoming leader, he reaches out to different faiths,” it added.
Ukraine has captured two North Korean soldiers fighting in Russia’s Kursk region, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said.
The injured pair are now in Kyiv and communicating with the Security Service of Ukraine, the country’s domestic intelligence agency, he said.
Ukrainian special forces and paratroopers captured the North Koreans, Mr Zelenskyy said in a post on X.
“As with all prisoners of war, these two North Korean soldiers are receiving the necessary medical assistance,” he said.
“I have instructed the Security Service of Ukraine to grant journalists access to these prisoners.
“The world needs to know the truth about what is happening.”
Mr Zelenskyy said capturing the soldiers alive was “not easy”. He also claimed Russian and North Korean forces fighting in Kursk have tried to conceal the presence of North Korean soldiers, including by killing wounded comrades on the battlefield to avoid their capture and interrogation by Ukraine.
The post included images of the two men – one with a bandage around his jaw and the other around both hands and wrists – and what appeared to be a Russian military document.
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Ukraine’s security service SBU on Saturday provided further details.
It said one of those detained had no documents at all, while the other had been carrying a Russian military ID card in the name of a man from Tuva, a Russian region bordering Mongolia.
“The prisoners do not speak Ukrainian, English or Russian, so communication with them takes place through Korean translators in cooperation with South Korean intelligence,” a statement said.
One of the soldiers claimed he had been told he was going to Russia for training, rather than to fight against Ukraine, according to the SBU.
The agency added both men are being provided with medical care in line with the Geneva Conventions, and investigated “in cooperation with South Korean intelligence”.
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North Korean regular troops entered the war on Russia’s side in October, according to Ukraine and its Western allies.
US, South Korean and Ukrainian intelligence assessments suggest up to 12,000 North Korean combat troops have been sent by Pyongyang under a pact with Moscow.
They believe North Korea has also been supplying Russia with vast quantities of artillery shells.
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