Alaska Airlines passengers refile Boeing door plug lawsuit 

Boeing lawsuit overview:

• Who: A group of passengers on a Jan. 5 Alaska Airlines flight refiled a lawsuit against Alaska Airlines Inc. and The Boeing Company.
• Why: They claim Boeing has a culture of “cutting corners” and failed to detect the missing bolts that caused a door plug to detach during their flight.
• Where: The Boeing lawsuit was filed in Washington federal court.

Alaska Airlines passengers traveling on Jan. 5 when the door plug blew out during their flight have refiled their Boeing lawsuit claiming the company’s culture of “cutting corners” put their safety at risk.

Cuong Tran, Huy Tran, Ket Tran and Tram Vo filed the Boeing lawsuit against The Boeing Company, Spirit Aerosystems Inc., Alaska Airlines Inc. and 10 unnamed defendants a few days after voluntarily dismissing their earlier lawsuit filed in state court. Three minor children, listed only by their initials, are also included as plaintiffs.

During their flight from Portland, Oregon, to Ontario, California, the left mid-exit door plug separated from the 737 Max 9 aircraft, “leaving a gaping hole in the fuselage,” the Alaska Airlines lawsuit says.

Rapid decompression of the passenger compartment caused phones, seatbacks and passengers’ clothing to be sucked out of the plane, the plaintiffs allege.

“As a result of this violent and terrifying event the passengers and crew suffered harm including physical injuries and serious emotional distress, fear and anxiety,” according to the Boeing lawsuit.

Boeing lawsuit says company has culture of ‘cutting corners’

The plaintiffs allege the door plug separated from the plane because arrestor bolts meant to prevent the plug from sliding had never been installed and suggest the oversight was part of a pattern of lax safety protocols within the company.

Within the last decade, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reportedly found Boeing failed to follow important safety protocols, such as marking assembly tasks as “complete” even though they were not completed. Boeing entered into a settlement over these issues in 2015 requiring the airplane manufacturer to implement mandatory safety improvements and regular auditing of its systems, the Boeing lawsuit explains.

The U.S. Department of Justice reportedly filed a criminal complaint against Boeing in 2021, and Boeing subsequently admitted to a count of conspiracy to defraud the United States. As part of a deferred prosecution agreement, Boeing again was supposed to strengthen its compliance programs and bolster its safety procedures.

However, the Alaska Airlines lawsuit asserts Boeing’s implementation of safety measures was inadequate and the plaintiffs blame the incident on Boeing’s “practice and culture … of cutting corners.”

They claim the disaster would have been prevented with reasonable quality control measures that would have detected the missing bolts and other potential problems with the door plug.

Another Alaska Airlines lawsuit was filed in January in King County Superior Court in Washington.

What do you think about the allegations in the Alaska Airlines lawsuit? Join the discussion in the comments.

The plaintiffs are represented by Brian D. Weinstein, Alexandra B. Caggiano and Dylan J. Johnson of Weinstein Caggiano PLLC and Ari Friedman and Timothy Loranger of Wisner Baum.

The Boeing lawsuit is Cuong Tran, et al. v. The Boeing Company, et al., Case No. 2:24-cv-00791-JNW, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.

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