Image: NTSB
NTSB investigators work to determine why the left MED plug separated from a 737-9 during flight.
Boeing’s “failure to provide adequate training, guidance, and oversight” was the probable cause of the Jan. 5, 2024, accident in which a door plug separated from an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-9 during flight, causing rapid depressurization, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) says.
The airplane, Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, was climbing through 14,830 ft after departure from Portland (Oregon, U.S.) International Airport en route to Ontario, California, when the left mid exit door (MED) plug separated from the airplane, leaving a hole in the fuselage that was about the size of the MED — 29 in (74 cm) wide and 59 in (150 cm) wide. Components on the fuselage frame, which surrounded the hole, were damaged, as were passenger seats and parts of the airplane’s interior near the hole.
After the depressurization,…
