Plane door blows out mid-air, forces emergency landing

An Alaska Airlines flight, carrying 171 passengers and 6 crew members, made an emergency landing on Saturday after one of its doors blew open mid-air.

Videos taken by passengers show the mid-cabin exit door had completely separated from the aircraft, minutes after take-off.

It was not immediately clear if anyone was injured.

According to flight data published by the flight-tracking website Flightradar24, the flight had reached 16,300 feet before descending and arrived about 20 minutes after taking off.

Allison Ferre, a spokeswoman for the Port of Portland, which oversees Portland International Airport, said it made a safe emergency landing.

Alaska Airlines acknowledged the incident on X and said they would provide more details as they become available.

"AS1282 from Portland to Ontario, CA (California) experienced an incident this evening soon after departure. The aircraft landed safely back at Portland International Airport with 171 guests and 6 crew members. We are investigating what happened and will share more as it becomes available," Alaska Airlines said in a post on X.

The incident occurred on Alaska flight 1282, a Boeing 737-9 MAX that had been certified by the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) in November 2023, just two months before the flight, according to FAA records available online.

According to media reports, passengers on board the plane said that they heard a loud bang and saw a hole in the wall of the plane, where a window had blown out at an altitude of 16,000 feet.

A child sitting near the window was reportedly pulled by the suction, and his shirt was torn off.

Some passengers also lost their phones, which were sucked out of the plane. A seat next to the window was also blown out due to decompression.

According to a video which was widely shared on social media, the plane's oxygen masks dropped down, and many passengers used them as they waited for the plane to return to the airport.