Flight passengers file class action lawsuit against Boeing after plane’s ‘critical failure’
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – After an Alaska Airlines flight was forced to make an emergency return landing at the Portland International Airport last week, its passengers have chosen to file a class action lawsuit.
A Seattle firm filed the suit against Boeing on behalf of the passengers after their aircraft, a Boeing 737 MAX 9, “experienced critical failure” during its initial takeoff on Friday, Jan. 5.
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Flight 1282 took off from PDX just before 4:30 p.m. but while it was at 16,000 feet, the door plug blew out of the aircraft, causing a rapid depressurization incident on board.
“The force of the depressurization ripped the shirt off a boy, and sucked cell phones, other debris, and much of the oxygen out of the aircraft,” the suit reads. “The shirtless boy leapt over the woman next to him, and escaped toward the front of the plane. At least two others seated near the hole followed and found new seats closer to the front.”
The aircraft managed to safely land at PDX around 5:30 p.m., but passengers say they “feared they would not survive the flight.”
“Thoughts of a complete plane malfunction and possible destruction naturally entered their minds,” the suit reads. “Some prayed. Some texted family to express their trepidation. Some gripped and clung to one another. Some adult passengers were crying.”
After the incident, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered the grounding of some Boeing 737 MAX 9s.
And though the FAA also announced an investigation into the cause of the flight’s decompression, Attorney Daniel Laurence said the passengers chose to file the suit before the results were determined for the sake of their physical and emotional needs.
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“Unfortunately, although everyone is glad that the blow-out occurred while the crew could still manage to land the aircraft safely, this nightmare experience 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.”
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