Alaska Airlines incident: Passengers sue airline and Boeing for $1bn after door panel blew out mid-flight

Three passengers are suing Alaska Airlines and Boeing for $1 billion after the mid-air blowout incident on 5 January caused them “severe mental, emotional, and psychological injuries”. The trio, who were seated in the row behind the door plug, are seeking compensatory and punitive damages.

Portland couple Amanda Strickland and Kyle Rinker along with a third passenger, Kevin Kwok, were onboard the terrifying flight 1282 from Portland to Ontario, California when the unused exit door blew off at 16,000ft. The lawsuit says: “As a direct result of the frightful, death-threatening failure of the Boeing aircraft, Mr Kwok, Mr Rinker, and Ms Strickland suffered severe mental, emotional, and psychological injuries, including post-traumatic stress, and physical injuries.”

Their attorney, Jonathan W. Johnson, told local news channel KGW-TV: “The issue with Alaska [Airlines], on this particular aircraft, they had several warnings, air pressure monitor warnings. In fact, I think they had said this aircraft couldn’t fly over water. I think some of their problems recently is that they outsource some of the manufacturing, and even if they have adequate safety protocols at Boeing, when they use third-party contractors, they aren’t necessarily making sure that the contractors follow the same safety protocols. So you could have a contractor send in a part that is not meeting those safety protocols.”

Boeing manufactured the 737 Max 9 planes, the aircraft involved in the incident. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) immediately grounded this fleet of aircraft until they had passed inspection – with several of the models reported to have loose hardware and missing key bolts to hold the door in place. 

The aircraft are now back in service, but a former quality manager at Boeing warned that 737 planes are back up in the air too soon. John Barnett told TMZ Live that he is “concerned” about the aircraft being back in service as the door plug blowout incident was due to “jobs not being completed properly”. 

Mr Barnett told TMZ that “they have done due diligence and inspections to ensure that the door plugs on the 737 are installed properly” but “my concern is what about the rest of the aeroplane?”. He added that he has these concerns because “inspection steps have been removed” and issues are “being ignored”. 

Several other passengers, including seven plaintiffs previously offered $1,500 in compensation, sued Boeing in January for the emergency. They alleged that those on board suffered from bleeding ears, bruises and headaches.

Daniel Laurence, the attorney representing the plaintiffs said: “This nightmare has caused economic, physical and ongoing emotional consequences that have understandably deeply affected our clients, and is one more disturbing black mark on the troubled 737 Max series aircraft.” An Alaska Airlines representative said that the company could not comment on pending litigation.