Alaska Airlines Flight 1282

Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight operated by Alaska Airlines from Portland International Airport in Portland, Oregon, to Ontario International Airport in Ontario, California. Shortly after takeoff on January 5, 2024, a door plug on the Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft blew out, causing an uncontrolled decompression of the aircraft.

The aircraft returned to Portland for an emergency landing. All 171 passengers and 6 crew members survived the accident, with three receiving minor injuries.

According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) final report, the probable cause of the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 door plug blowout was a systemic failure of Boeing's manufacturing process and ineffective oversight by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The in-flight separation was caused by four crucial bolts that were never reinstalled after being removed at the factory.

Aircraft and crew

The aircraft involved was a Boeing 737 MAX 9 (typically referred to as model 737-9 in official FAA documents) with manufacturer's serial number 67501, fuselage line number 8789, and registered as N704AL. At the time of the accident the aircraft was around two months old and had logged 510 total flight hours over 154 flights.

The MAX 9 has optional rear mid-cabin emergency exit doors, on each side of the aircraft behind the wings. Aircraft configured with greater than 189 seats, such as the MAX 9s operated by Lion Air (220 seats) and Corendon Dutch Airlines (213 seats), require these additional emergency exit doors and slides to meet regulatory requirements for evacuation speed. On aircraft with less dense configurations, such as those operated by Alaska Airlines (178 seats) and United Airlines (179 seats), the doors are not required and plugs are installed in their place.