This week, the National Transportation Safety Board said that the plug covering an exit door that blew off an Alaska Airlines plane mid-flight has been located.
According to NBC News, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said that a schoolteacher named Bob sent in photos of the item to the agency. The item landed in his backyard.
“I’m excited to announce that we found the door plug,” Homendy said. "We're going to go pick that up and make sure that we begin analyzing it.”
Two cells phones that were sucked out of the plane were also located, one in a yard and one on the side of the road.
As Matt covered, an Alaska Airlines flight that departed Portland, Oregon on Friday was forced to make an emergency landing minutes after takeoff after a section of the plane blew off.
An Alaska Airlines flight made an emergency landing Friday night after a portion of the aircraft blew out mid-air. Video obtained by CBS News appeared to show one of the passenger window panels had been blown out. https://t.co/wKIOLENg3r pic.twitter.com/M00hT7HaPx
— CBS News (@CBSNews) January 6, 2024
NEW IMAGE from on board Alaska Airlines 1282 after ***part of the fuselage*** blew out mid-flight. Successful emergency return to Portland after 20 minutes in the air. 10-week-old (!) Boeing 737 Max 9. NTSB investigating. pic.twitter.com/qjX8fQ1br1
— Pete Muntean (@petemuntean) January 6, 2024
Six crew members and 171 passengers were on board Flight 1282 en route to Ontario, California when the incident occurred, according to ABC News.
"The safety of our guests and employees is always our primary priority," the airline said in a statement, adding "so while this type of occurrence is rare, our flight crew was trained and prepared to safely manage the situation."
Shortly after, the New York Post reported that the National Transportation Safety Board asked the public to help find the “plug door” that blew off the plane.
“We believe, from looking at radar data, that the door is around Barnes Road near I-217 in the Cedar Hills neighborhood,” Homendy reportedly said. The area she referred to is near Portland, Oregon.
“If you find that, please, please contact local law enforcement,” she added.
“It’s fortunate that nobody died and there were not more serious injuries,” she told CNN of the incident.
As Matt noted, the FAA said that it would temporarily ground some flights involving the Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft, the one that was involved in the incident.