Six Alaska Airlines passengers are suing Boeing after a section of a plane blew out mid-flight last Friday.
The incident involved Alaska Airlines flight 1282, which was flying to Ontario, California, from the Portland International Airport and transporting 174 passengers and six crew members.
Shortly after the plane took off, a section of the wall of the plane blew-out.
A class-action lawsuit was filed on Thursday against Boeing in the King County Superior Court in Seattle. Attorney Daniel Laurence from the Stritmatter Firm is representing the passengers, and says that they are owed compensation for the damaging impacts of the experience.
“Unfortunately, although everyone is glad that the blow-out occurred while the crew could still manage to land the aircraft safely, this nightmare experience has caused economic, physical and ongoing emotional consequences that have understandably deeply affected our clients, and is one more disturbing black mark on the troubled 737-MAX series aircraft,” Laurence said, as reported by the Washington Examiner.
The lawsuit cites physical and emotional injuries, and also alleges that many of the oxygen masks did not work.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is in the process of investigating the incident.
Last Saturday, the FAA ordered the grounding of all Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft, impacting 171 Boeing Max 9 jets.
On Thursday, the FAA launched a formal investigation into the Boeing 737 Max 9 model, stating, “This incident should have never happened and it cannot happen again.”
In a letter to Boeing, the FAA mentioned that “After the incident, the FAA was notified of additional discrepancies on other Boeing 737-9 airplanes.”
Alaska and United Airlines have reported that inspectors discovered loose bolts in several of their Boeing 737 Max 9 planes since the incident.
Boeing issued three warnings in 2023 regarding 737 Max production issues, with the latest coming just a week before the Alaska Airlines flight.
Spirit AeroSystems, who manufactures the door plug that detached from the plane, was sued last year for “widespread quality failures.” Spirit AeroSystems is not connected to Spirit Airlines.
The manufacturer of the Alaska Airlines door plug that detached midair during a flight was the subject of a class action lawsuit last year that alleged "widespread quality failures." https://t.co/EgcJPhSbgS
— NBC News (@NBCNews) January 10, 2024
Boeing shares have fallen more than 10% since the incident.
