WASHINGTON: A teacher in Oregon has found part of an Alaska Airlines airplane panel that blew out mid-flight in his backyard, officials said, as shares in the beleaguered manufacturer Boeing began falling in pre-market trading Monday after the near-disaster.
WASHINGTON DC: NTSB has taken to the Twitter to inform that it has recovered the door plug from Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 Boeing 737-9 MAX: “NTSB investigators are currently examining the door plug and will send it to the NTSB materials Laboratory in Washington, DC for further examination.”
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Dozens of flights have been canceled around the world as airline and safety bodies ground some versions of Boeing’s 737 MAX 9 jet pending inspections after the emergency, which miraculously saw no major injuries.
On Friday, Alaska Flight 1282 departed from Portland International Airport and was gaining altitude when the cabin crew reported a “pressurization issue”, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), with the plane quickly returning to Portland.
Video images of the incident, which showed a gaping hole in the side of the plane, air rushing through the cabin, oxygen masks dangling and travelers observing city lights below them through the opening, were seen around the world.
“I am excited to announce we have found the door plug,” National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) chair Jennifer Homendy said at a press briefing.
“A door plug is a cover panel used to fill an unneeded emergency exit in planes with smaller seat configurations.
“He took a picture,” she said, referring to the school teacher who she named only as “Bob.”
“I can just see the outside of the door plug from the pictures, the white portions.
“We can’t see anything else but we’re going to go pick that up and make sure that we begin analyzing it.”
She said it was “very, very fortunate” that the incident had not ended in tragedy.
Newspakistan.tv/APP/AFP
