Passengers Hit Boeing With Lawsuit: Ill-Fated Alaska Airlines Flight Was 'Waking Nightmare'

Passengers aboard a Jan. 5 Alaska Airlines ALK flight that was forced to make an emergency landing have filed a class action lawsuit against Boeing BA, manufacturer of the 737 Max 9.

The lawsuit was filed on Thursday, Jan. 11, on behalf of six passengers in King County Superior Court in Washington, where Boeing is headquartered. The lawsuit claims that the incident “physically injured some passengers and emotionally traumatized most, if not all, aboard.”

Flight 1282 out of Portland and bound for Ontario, California on Friday, Jan. 5, was forced to make an emergency landing when a plug door blew out moments after take off. None of the 174 passengers aboard were seriously injured, but officials said there were some minor injuries.

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Traumatic Stress

“The cockpit door blew open and a flight attendant rushed to try to close it,” the lawsuit alleges.

“The pressure change made ears bleed and combined with low oxygen, loud wind noise and traumatic stress made heads ache severely,” the plaintiffs allege. “Passengers were shocked, terrorized and confused, thrust into a waking nightmare, hoping they would live long enough to walk the earth again. The violence of the event bruised the bodies of some.”

The flight operator, Alaska Airlines, was not named as a defendant.

The lawsuit uses comments made by Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun in the wake of the incident to back its claim.

“Calhoun calls the defect that led to this lived nightmare ‘our mistake’ and publicly admitted, by his implication, that the plug was not properly secured to the fuselage either during manufacture or otherwise while the aircraft was being built by Boeing, and/or its subcontractor, Spirit AeroSystems,” the lawsuit said.

Spirit AeroSystems is facing a separate class action lawsuit dating back to May 2023 alleging sustained quality failures in its products.

FAA Inquiry

All 171 of the Max 9 jets with the plug door component remained grounded on Friday.

On Thursday, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it opened an investigation into Boeing. The FAA seeks to determine if the manufacturer failed to ensure adequate safety standards.

"This incident should have never happened, and it cannot happen again," the regulator said in a statement.

Boeing shares were down a further 2.3% on Friday taking its losses since the Alaska Airlines incident to 12.5%.

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