For the first time, we’re hearing from one of the pilots onboard Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, the Boeing 737 MAX 9 door blowout flight. Her recollection of what occurred onboard is chilling.
Alaska Airlines Pilot Recounts Her Experience On AS1282, 737 MAX 9 Blowout Flight
First Officer Emily Wiprud sat down with CBS News to share her recollection of the January 5, 2024 incident, which quickly turned from predictable to gut-wrenching.
We know what happened initially:
“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.”
Recall, as a safety measure the cockpit door automatically unlocks and swings open in case of a rapid depressurization event.
Per Wiprud, she didn’t know what was wrong but she and the captain instantly began to land the airplane:
“I didn’t know that there was a hole in the airplane until we landed. I knew something was catastrophically wrong. It was so incredibly loud. And I remember putting the oxygen mask on and trying to transmit to air traffic control and wondering ‘Why can’t I hear anything?’”
She could not hear anything because her headset was sucked out of the aircraft, all the way from the flight deck.
Then it gets chilling. The flight landed and she opened the flight deck door (which they had shut after it flung open) and stepped out into the aircraft cabin.
“I opened the flight deck door and I saw calm, quiet, hundreds of eyes staring right back at me. And I looked at my flight attendants and said, ‘Are you okay?’ And in that response I heard ‘hole…four…five empty seats…and injuries.’”
Wiprud thought those empty seats were lost passengers. A passenger count then took place where it was confirmed, miraculously, that all 177 passengers onboard were safe.
“I was so thankful. I was in shock. In disbelief. Everyone was there!”
You can watch her interview below:
Kudos to Wiprud and her captain for their skill in landing the aircraft. What’s new to me is how they landed the 737 aircraft not even knowing clearly what had happened and still feared, even on the ground, that some passengers had been lost.
image: Alaska Airlines
