Alaska Airlines window blows out in mid-air, makes emergency landing

Portland  :  A window shattered on an Alaska Airlines plane flying from Portland, Oregon to Ontario, California, causing a loss of cabin pressure and forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing back at Portland International Airport on Friday  (Jan 5)  evening.

The incident occurred on Alaska flight 1282, a Boeing 737-9 MAX that had been certified by the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) in November 2023, just two months before the flight, according to FAA records available online.

Passengers on board the plane told that they heard a loud bang and saw a hole in the wall of the plane, where a window had blown out at an altitude of 16,000 feet. A child sitting near the window was reportedly pulled by the suction, and his shirt was torn off. Some passengers also lost their phones, which were sucked out of the plane. A seat next to the window was also blown out due to decompression.