What happened to Alaska Airlines’s Boeing 737 Max 9 whose door blew off?

Published

2 years ago

January 7, 2024

What happened to Alaska Airlines’s Boeing 737 Max 9 whose door blew off?

An order by US officials to ground 737 Max 9s for inspection will affect 171 aircraft worldwide.

A cabin panel flew off in midair during an Alaska Airlines flight, leaving a gaping hole in the plane’s fuselage and forcing an emergency landing.

The incident took place on Saturday. Social media images showed emergency oxygen masks hanging from the ceiling as passengers huddled in their seats in trepidation.

Here’s what you need to know about the incident, and the Boeing 737 Max 9 jetliner:

What happened to the flight?

Alaska Air Flight 1282 suffered a blowout that left a gaping hole in the side of the fuselage.
En route to Ontario, California, the plane made an emergency landing in Portland, in the US state of Oregon.
Flight data showed the plane climbed to 16,000 feet (4,876 metres) before the incident took place, with the hole causing the cabin to depressurise.

What happened to the blown-off piece?

The door fell off over the Portland suburb of Cedar Hills, according to the chair of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Jennifer Homendy.
Homendy called on residents to come forward if they found it.

Were any passengers affected?

The plane landed safely with all 174 passengers and six crew members.
No passengers were seated next to the cabin panel, said Homendy. However, The Oregonian newspaper quoted passengers as saying a young boy seated in the row had his shirt ripped off by the sudden decompression, injuring him slightly.
Several other passengers also suffered injuries.

What was the cause of the incident?

Alaska Airlines has not provided information about the possible cause, but the NTSB and the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) have said they will investigate the incident.

How old was the plane?

The new Boeing 737 Max 9 involved in the incident was delivered to Alaska Airlines in late October and certified in early November, according to FAA data. It had been in service for just eight weeks.
The Max is Boeing’s newest version of the 737 and went into service in May 2017.

How many planes have been grounded as a result and what is the impact?

Federal officials in the United States have ordered the temporary grounding of all Boeing 737 Max 9 jetliners operated by US airlines or flown in the US by foreign carriers until they are fully inspected.
The order affects 171 planes worldwide, with inspections expected to take about four to eight hours per aircraft.
In the US, Alaska Airlines and United Airlines are the only carriers using the MAX 9.
Alaska Airlines cancelled 160 flights on Saturday, 20 percent of scheduled trips, while United cancelled 104 flights, 4 percent of departures.
Alaska Airlines said disruptions were likely to last through at least midweek.

What have been past safety concerns about Boeing 737 Max jets?

Boeing 737 Max jets were grounded worldwide for almost two years after a crash in Indonesia in October 2018 which killed 189 people, and another in Ethiopia five months later, which killed 157 people.
The aircraft was cleared to fly again after Boeing revamped its automated flight-control system that had activated erroneously in both crashes.

What have been the reactions of international airlines to the incident?

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency adopted the FAA’s grounding directive, but said no EU member state airlines “currently operate an aircraft in the affected configuration”.
Turkish Airlines said it had withdrawn its five Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft from service for inspection.
Panamanian carrier Copa Airlines has temporarily grounded 21 737 Max 9 aircraft.
A British air safety regulator said it would require any 737 Max 9 operator to comply with the FAA directive to enter its airspace.
Aeromexico said it was grounding all of its 737 Max 9 planes while inspections are carried out.
Icelandair said none of its 737 Max 9s featured the plane configuration specified in the FAA grounding order.
Airline flydubai said on Sunday that the three Boeing 737 Max 9 planes in its fleet were not affected, according to Dubai-based Khaleej Times newspaper.

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Musician performs under the aurora in Nenana — without gloves, in 17 degrees

Published

2 hours ago

February 28, 2026

Press Room

Musician performs under the aurora in Nenana — without gloves, in 17 degrees

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – A musician with Alaska Native roots recorded an hour-long live set in Interior Alaska beneath the aurora.

Chastity Ashley, a drummer, vocalist and DJ who performs under the name Neon Pony, celebrated a year since she traveled to Nenana to record a live music set beneath the northern lights for her series Beats and Hidden Retreats.

Ashley, who has Indigenous roots in New Mexico, said she was drawn to Alaska in part because of the role drums play in Alaska Native culture. A handmade Alaskan hand drum, brought to her by a man from just outside Anchorage, was incorporated into the performance in February 2025.

Recording in the cold

The team spent eight days in Nenana waiting for the aurora to appear. Ashley said the lights did not come out until around 4 a.m., and she performed a continuous, uninterrupted hour-long set in 17-degree weather without gloves.

“It was freezing. I couldn’t wear gloves because I’m actually playing, yeah, hand drums and holding drumsticks. And there was ice underneath my feet,” Ashley said.

“So, I had to really utilize my balance and my willpower and my ability to just really immerse in the music and let go and make it about the celebration of what I was doing as opposed to worrying about all the other elements or what could go wrong.”

She said she performed in a leotard to allow full range of motion while drumming, DJing and singing.

Filming on Nenana tribal land

Ashley said she did not initially know the filming location was on indigenous land. After local authorities told her the decision was not theirs to make, she contacted the Nenana tribe directly for permission.

“I went into it kind of starting to tell them who I was and that I too was a part of a native background,” Ashley said. “And they just did not even care. They’re like, listen, we’re about to have a party for one of our friends here. Go and do what you like.”

Ashley said the tribe gave her full permission to film on the reservation, and that the aurora footage seen in the episode was captured there.

Seeing the aurora for the first time

Ashley said the Nenana performance marked her first time seeing the northern lights in person.

“It felt as if I were awake in a dream,” she said. “It really doesn’t seem real.”

She said she felt humbled and blessed to perform beneath the aurora and to celebrate its beauty and grandeur through her music.

“I feel incredibly humbled and blessed that not only did I get to take part in seeing something like that, but to play underneath it and celebrate its beauty and its grandeur.”

The Alaska episode is the second installment of Beats and Hidden Retreats, which is available on YouTube at @NeonPony. Ashley said two additional episodes are in production and she hopes to make it back up to Alaska in the future.

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Alaska

Over $150K worth of drugs seized from man in Juneau, police say

Published

14 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

Over 0K worth of drugs seized from man in Juneau, police say

JUNEAU, Alaska (KTUU) – An Alaska drug task force seized roughly $162,000 worth of controlled substances during an operation in Juneau Thursday, according to the Juneau Police Department.

Around 3 p.m. Thursday, investigators with the Southeast Alaska Cities Against Drugs (SEACAD) approached 50-year-old Juneau resident Jermiah Pond in the Nugget Mall parking lot while he was sitting in his car, according to JPD.

A probation search of the car revealed a container holding about 7.3 gross grams of a substance that tested presumptively positive for methamphetamine, as well as about 1.21 gross grams of a substance that tested presumptively positive for fentanyl.

As part of the investigation, investigators executed a search warrant at Pond’s residence, during which they found about 46.63 gross grams of ketamine, 293.56 gross grams of fentanyl, 25.84 gross grams of methamphetamine and 25.5 gross grams of MDMA.

In all, it amounted to just less than a pound of drugs worth $162,500.

Investigators also seized $102,640 in cash and multiple recreational vehicles believed to be associated with the investigation.

Pond was lodged on charges of second-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance, two counts of third-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance, five counts of fourth-degree misconduct involving a substance and an outstanding felony probation warrant.

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Alaska

Sand Point teen found 3 days after going missing in lake

Published

1 day ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

Sand Point teen found 3 days after going missing in lake

SAND POINT, Alaska (KTUU) – A teenage boy who was last seen Monday when the canoe he was in tipped over has been found by a dive team in a lake near Sand Point, according to a person familiar with the situation.

Alaska’s News Source confirmed with the person, who is close to the search efforts, that the dive team found 15-year-old Kaipo Kaminanga deceased Thursday in Red Cove Lake, located a short drive from the town of Sand Point on the Aleutian Island chain.

Kaminanga was last seen canoeing with three other friends on Monday when the boat tipped over.

A search and rescue operation ensued shortly after.

Alaska Dive Search Rescue and Recovery Team posted on Facebook Thursday night that they were able to “locate and recover” Kaminanga at around 5 p.m. Thursday.

“We are glad we could bring closure to his family, friends and community,” the post said.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated when more details become available.

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