The Alaska Airlines midair blowout incident in January this year has been dissected and analyzed in great detail by relevant authorities. But one of the pilots who flew the plane and handled the emergency situation recently spoke about it for the first time. In an interview, she detailed the initial chaos when the door plug detached and everything that followed next.
Explosion and a whoosh of air
In January, Alaska Airlines
flight 1282 from Portland, Oregon, to Ontario, California, made headlines worldwide when it suffered a midair blowout after a door plug separated from the Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft. Since then, there has been a post-incident analysis and greater scrutiny of plane maker Boeing, among various other developments.
Photo: Ian Dewar Photography | Shutterstock
But one of the pilots of the aircraft has now spoken for the first time about what happened that day. In an interview with CBS News, first officer Emily Wiprud described the sequence of events and how the crew dealt with the situation. She said,
“The first indication was an explosion in my ears and then a whoosh of air … My body was forced forward and there was a loud bang as well. … The flight deck door was open. I saw tubes hanging from the cabin.”
She added that pilots did not know that there was a hole in the plane until they landed, but she sensed that some was catastrophically wrong. Wiprud describes the incident as being extremely loud and remembers putting on her oxygen mask and trying to transmit to air traffic control but not hearing anything. This was because her headset had been yanked off during the blowout.
Accounting for passengers
Of course, both pilots jumped right into action to bring the plane down safely on the ground. They were concerned about the 171 passengers on the plane, and when Wiprud opened the flight deck door, she saw the passengers staring back at her quietly and calmly.
Several items from inside the airplane, including mobile phones, were sucked out, but the crew was concerned if passengers were also harmed. There was some confusion when Wiprud saw a teen’s mother searching for him, fearing the worst. The pilot said,
“She looked back and her son was gone. As a mother myself, I can’t even imagine that feeling.”
Thankfully, the boy, who was sitting in the same row as the panel that blew off, quickly changed his seat. He did get his shirt ripped off during the incident.
Recognition for handling the situation
Both Wiprud and the flight’s captain are being given the Air Line Pilots Association Superior Airmanship Award for the way they took control of the airplane and landed it safely. The first officer added,
“My captain is a hero. Same with the flight attendants, same with all the personnel that was there to support us that day. And that should be celebrated. Everybody survived.”
Photo: The Global Guy | Shutterstock
Indeed, a situation like this could have turned into something serious within minutes. With everything that has followed since then, including greater scrutiny of Boeing, hopefully, something like this will not happen in the future.