Boeing 737-9 N704AL

Summary

On 6 January 2024 at about 01:14 local time, a Boeing 737-9 registered N704AL, operated by Alaska Airlines Inc, was involved in an accident near Portland, Oregon, United States. 180 people were on board and 8 had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

6 January 2024 at 01:14

Classification

Accident

Location

Portland, Oregon, United States

Coordinates

45.4542, -122.7556

Aircraft

Boeing 737-9

Registration

N704AL

Category

Airplane

Year built

2023

Engines

2

Operator

Alaska Airlines Inc

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Portland → Ontario

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

DCA24MA063

8 people had minor injuries.

the in-flight separation of the left mid exit door (MED) plug due to Boeing Commercial Airplanes’ failure to provide adequate training, guidance, and oversight necessary to ensure that manufacturing personnel could consistently and correctly comply with its parts removal process, which was intended to document and ensure that the securing bolts and hardware that were removed from the left MED plug to facilitate rework during the manufacturing process were reinstalled. Contributing to the accident was the Federal Aviation Administration’s ineffective compliance enforcement surveillance and audit planning activities, which failed to adequately identify and ensure that Boeing addressed the repetitive and systemic nonconformance issues associated with its parts removal process.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

On January 5, 2024, about 1713 Pacific standard time, Alaska Airlines flight 1282, a Boeing 737-9 airplane, N704AL, experienced an in-flight separation of the left mid exit door plug and rapid depressurization during climb after takeoff from Portland International Airport, Portland, Oregon. One flight attendant and 7 passengers received minor injuries; the captain, the first officer, 3 flight attendants, and 164 passengers were uninjured; and the airplane sustained substantial damage. The scheduled domestic passenger flight was operated under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121 and departed PDX about 1707 with a planned destination of Ontario International Airport, Ontario, California.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.