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FILE PHOTO: A number of grounded Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft are shown parked at Victorville Airport in Victorville, California

Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun Meets With Lawmakers On Capitol Hill

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FILE PHOTO: Boeing's new 737 MAX-9 is pictured under construction at their production facility in Renton, Washington

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FILE PHOTO: Boeing employees and executives attend the delivery of the final 747 jet in Everett

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The door plug that blew out of an Alaska Airlines flight over Portland, Ore., on Friday has been found in a schoolteacher’s backyard, amid investigations into the explosive depressurization accident that triggered an emergency landing and resulted in extensive damage to the inside of the Boeing 737-9 Max airplane.

Alaska Airlines recorded that the plane’s auto-pressurization fail light — which is designed to signal failures in controlling cabin pressure —<b> </b>had illuminated on three flights in the weeks before Friday’s incident. Those reports, on Dec. 7, Jan. 3 and Jan. 4, prompted tests and a reset from maintenance, Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), said in a news conference Sunday evening.

She added that the airline restricted the plane from flying to Hawaii in case it would need swift landing, and that a later request from Alaska Airlines for a deeper look had gone unfulfilled before the incident Friday.

“It’s certainly a concern, and it’s one that we want to dig into,” Homendy said. She added that it is unclear whether the light is linked to the accident and said that it’s possible the light could have malfunctioned independently of the plane’s auto-pressurization system.

After the Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 blowout, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/01/30/faa-oversight-boeing-alaska-airlines-737-max-9/" target=_blank>the FAA’s oversight of Boeing</a> faces new questions.

<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2024/01/12/boeing-sued-alaska-airlines-lawsuit/" target=_blank>Alaska Airlines passengers are suing Boeing</a> after a door-like panel on its 737 Max 9 plane detached midflight, their attorneys said.

The FAA is investigating <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/01/11/faa-boeing-investigation-737-max/" target=_blank>whether Boeing had potential flaws in its manufacturing process</a> and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/01/11/boeing-spirit-aerosystems-accident-alaska-airlines/" target=_blank>the role of a key supplier</a>.

What happened on the Alaska Airlines flight? <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/01/09/door-plug-alaska-airlines-cabin-pressure/" target=_blank>Here’s how rapid depressurization occurred</a>.

The <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/01/08/boeing-737-alaska-airlines-plane-door-plug/" target=_blank>door plug that blew out of a Boeing plane</a> was found in an Oregon schoolteacher’s backyard, and an <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/01/08/iphone-survives-16000-foot-fall-alaska-airlines/" target=_blank>iPhone survived a 16,000-foot fall</a>.

<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2024/01/10/alaska-airlines-boeing-max-9-passenger-compensation/" target=_blank>Alaska Airlines offered passengers $1,500</a> after the Boeing Max 9 incident, but legal action could reap greater awards.

Flight 1282 was on its way to Ontario, Calif., from Portland before it was forced to return to the airport after the door plug — an exit that is paneled off, usually because it is deemed optional in safety regulations — separated from the plane midair, shortly after takeoff.

The blowout caused a loud banging sound and frigid, whipping winds to pour into the aircraft.

The cockpit door immediately flew open, banging into a lavatory door and jolting the first officer forward, causing her to temporarily lose her headset, Homendy said, citing interviews with flight attendants. The captain and the first officer were able to put on oxygen masks and turn on a speaker, but “communication was a serious issue,” she said.

Flight attendants described trouble getting information from the flight deck, and passengers in the cabin struggled to hear announcements. “It was very violent,” Homendy said.

Investigators who examined the grounded plane after the accident found that the headrests of two seats directly adjacent to the door plug were missing, as well as the back of one seat.

One flight attendant suffered minor injuries, according to the union that represents Alaska crews, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2024/01/05/alaska-airlines-plane-emergency-landing-portland/" target="_blank">The Washington Post reported</a>. Several passengers required medical attention for injuries, the airline <a href="https://news.alaskaair.com/alaska-airlines/operations/as-1282/" target="_blank">said</a>. The flight was carrying 171 passengers and six crew members.

Pieces of trim, paneling and insulation were ripped from the interior of the plane, Homendy said, and damage was visible in at least 12 rows, including the interior side of some windows. However, these parts are “not critical to the structure of the aircraft,” she said, adding that the tubing of several oxygen masks had been “sheared off.”

“My impression when I saw that was it must have been a terrifying event to experience,” she said.

NTSB investigators were unable to uncover communications from the cockpit voice recorder, which overwrites itself every two hours and was not recovered before the recording had been automatically erased. Homendy called on the Federal Aviation Administration to implement a rule that would require the automatic overwrite time to be increased to 25 hours, a standard she said the NTSB has called for and is “consistent with Europe and many other countries.”

“That information is key not just for our investigation, but for improving aviation safety,” she said.

The accident has fueled new scrutiny of Boeing after it closed out a turbulent year. Videos recorded by passengers, which show dropped oxygen masks and the blown-out door plug, with lit-up buildings down below, rapidly racked up views on social media. Before the accident, the company<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2024/01/05/alaska-airlines-plane-emergency-landing-portland/" target="_blank"> was already aware</a> of manufacturing problems with the 737-9 Max and had struck a deal in October with a key supplier to address issues with the model’s fuselage, the main body of the aircraft.

Fuselage breach on Alaska Airlines flight puts Boeing under new scrutiny

The Federal Aviation Administration ordered the grounding of all Boeing 737-9 Max planes with the same part for inspection, affecting 171 planes <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/tips/boeing-737-max-9-grounding-canceled-flights/" target="_blank">operated by airlines such as</a> Alaska and United. The NTSB is continuing its investigation of the accident, which it characterized on Saturday as broad and with no definitive timeline. “Nothing is excluded,” Homendy had said.

Will the Boeing Max 9 groundings cancel my flight? Here’s what to know.

Boeing chief executive David Calhoun canceled a leadership summit for company vice presidents this week and sent an email to employees Sunday announcing a companywide safety meeting, which is slated for Jan. 9.

“When serious accidents like this occur, it is critical for us to work transparently with our customers and regulators to understand and address the causes of the event, and to ensure they don’t happen again,” he wrote. “This is and must be the focus of our team right now.”

The NTSB is expected to continue its investigation into the causes of the accident. Members of the community had launched drones to help search for the plug, and two cellphones were turned in after they were discovered in a yard and on the side of a road. Homendy asked people living or working near the site of the emergency landing to check their rooftops for any fallen parts, and to search their security camera recordings around the time of 5:11 p.m. for any potential evidence that would help investigators.

“We’ve only been on scene for 24 hours — one day. We have a lot of work to do,” she said. “… This could be, you know, weeks that we’re here.”

A previous version of this article incorrectly said Air Canada operates Boeing 737-9 Max planes. The airline does not have any of those models in its fleet. The article has been corrected.

Northeastern University, BA in Journalism

Kelly Kasulis Cho is a breaking news reporter and editor at The Washington Post, based in Seoul. Previously, she spent four years covering North and South Korea as a freelance foreign correspondent, and she has also worked at the New York Times and Bloomberg BNA. Follow her on Twitter: @KasulisK.