US authorities recovered at least two cellphones from the passengers. An Alaska Airlines plane window block has also been found in Portland
An iPhone belonging to one of the passengers was recovered Boeing 737 Max 9 Alaska Airlines was forced to make an emergency landing in Portland, Oregon, US, 35 minutes after its flight to California took off after losing a melted part of its mid-flight, including a window. Friday afternoon.
Apple's cell phone has been dropped from a height of more than five thousand meters and still works. It found the device was still on, had half its battery and on the screen was an email receipt for the passenger's baggage check-in.
The only visible damage at first glance was a broken charger cable at the device's input, explained Seanathan Bates, owner of the property where the cell phone fell, at X.
“Found an iPhone on the side of the road… still in airplane mode, half battery, opened at baggage claim for #AlaskaAirlines flight ASA1282. He survived the 16,000-foot fall! When I called Joe from NTSP [Conselho Nacional de Segurança nos Transportes], told me it was the second phone found. Still no door😅 In case you didn't see, the broken charger cable was still inside! It was pulled out the door (sorry I didn't take a better photo before handing it in haha)”, the posts read.
If you didn't see it, the broken charger plug was still inside it! The thing was cut off *out the door*
(Sorry I didn't get a better picture before handing it over haha) pic.twitter.com/tMQ7XQNHeW
— Seanathan Bates (@SeanSafyre) January 8, 2024
This Monday, North American airline United Airlines confirmed that several planes of the same model had loose screws after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requested all unusual inspections, like Alaska Airlines' Boeing 737 Max 9. American companies use this type of aircraft. However, United Airlines did not disclose how many flights were found to have the problem.
“Since we began our preliminary investigations on Saturday, we have identified cases that appear to be related to window blocker installation issues — for example, screws that require additional tightening,” United officials said in a statement.
An Alaska Airlines flight made an emergency landing after a window “burst” in mid-air
The Boeing 737 Max 9 “landed safely” with 177 passengers and crew on board, the company said.
Six minutes after takeoff at 5:07 p.m. Friday, the plane veered off course after climbing to an altitude of 16,000 feet (4,875 meters), according to flight tracking data from the website FlightAware. Landed again at 17:26.
Our next steps with Flight 1282 and the Boeing MAX-9: https://t.co/LFxJvQYNcA pic.twitter.com/oemRokr1tz
— Alaska Airlines (@AlaskaAir) January 6, 2024
A passenger sent a photo to the news channel KATU-TV, from Portland, shows a hole in the side of the plane next to the passenger seats. Another company, the KPTV-TVPhotos sent by a passenger show that most of the plane's fuselage is missing.
The Federal Aviation Administration (AFA) said the plane landed safely.
The airline warned it would “temporarily” ground all 65 Boeing 737 Max 9s for inspections. “Each aircraft will return to service only after all maintenance and safety inspections have been completed,” Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicusi said, adding that these are expected to be completed “in the coming days.”
The new MAX 9 was delivered to Alaska Airlines in late October and certified in early November. Boeing said it was aware of the incident and was “gathering more information.”
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