Terrified passengers think 'I'm going to die' and send texts as window explodes
Terrified Alaska Airlines passengers thought there were going to die and sent panicked texts to loved ones as a window blew off mid-flight.
Shocking footage shows the moments after a hole was blown off Alaska Airlines flight 1282 travelling at at 16,000 feet on Friday night, with seated passengers using oxygen masks as chill winds battered the cabin and one terrified woman texted her family, saying: "I don't want to die."
After escaping the terrifying flight, which was headed from Portland to California when a cabin window exploded mid-air, Emma Vu shared her fears on TikTok. "In the moment I was so scared," Emma said, as she showed her panic-stricken texts to her family reading: 'The masks r down; I am so scared right now; Please pray for me; Please I don't want to die."
Fortunately, there were no reported injuries on board, but some passengers did lose their phones and personal items when the cabin's pressure was released, causing air to rush in. It tore the shirt off a child and sucking phones from other people's hands.
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A cabin window exploded at 16,000 feet, prompting emergency masks to drop (Elizabeth/CBS news)
Emma said she was "so scared" in her TikTok video (Elizabeth/CBS news)Passenger Kyle Rinker said shortly after takeoff, a "window" opened. He told CNN: “It was really abrupt. Just got to altitude, and the window/wall just popped off and didn’t notice it until the oxygen masks came off.” Vi Nguyen, a different traveller, claimed that she was startled out of her sleep aboard the aircraft by a loud boom.
She told the New York Times: “I open up my eyes and the first thing I see is the oxygen mask right in front of me. And I look to the left and the wall on the side of the plane is gone. The first thing I thought was, ‘I’m going to die’.”
Shortly after the glass blew, pilots were shown from inside the aircraft sitting in eerie stillness (FOX 12)The National Transportation Safety Board, Alaska Airlines, and Boeing have all opened investigations; the Boeing 737-9 MAX aircraft won't be put into service until November 2023. Following the emergency landing, Alaska Airlines grounded its entire fleet of Boeing 737-9 MAX aircraft for immediate safety inspections.
Shortly after the glass blew, pilots were shown in chilling footage from inside the aircraft sitting in eerie stillness and staring out of a massive hole in the fuselage at Portland's glittering lights below. Vu claimed that she "felt the entire plane drop" as the catastrophic safety failure suddenly broke out while she was asleep.
Passenger Emma Vu was awoken out of her sleep at the onset of the crisis (e.mmavu/instagram)"I am so grateful for the ladies sat next to me... they were so sweet at calming me down, and the flight attendants were giving oxygen tanks to those who needed it more," she said. "But I was freaking out because my bag wouldn't inflate - and that's literally what they tell you in the safety thing, like don't worry you're still getting air flow when you're in fight or flight you're not thinking about that."
The pilot was heard radioing for assistance during the emergency, stating: "Portland approach, Alaska 1282 emergency!" on audio recorded from within the cockpit. As of this moment, the aircraft is levelling 12,000 and turning left toward three to four zero.
Air bags deployedA statement from the airlines CEO Ben Minicucci read: "At Alaska Airlines, safety is our foundational value and the most important thing we focus on every day," he wrote. "Following tonight's event on Flight 1282, we have decided to take the precautionary step of temporarily grounding our fleet of 65 Boeing MAX-9 aircraft."
Based on flight tracking information from the FlightAware website, the aircraft was diverted around six minutes after takeoff at 5.07pm. It touched down at 5.26pm.
The window from outside the plane (FOX 12)A passenger shared dramatic photographs to Fox News that reveal a significant portion of the aeroplane's window is missing. According to other travellers, the flight was going to Ontario, California, from PDX. It left Portland around 4.40pm. and returned at approximately 5.30pm.
This comes as Alaska Airlines is in the midst of paying $1.9 billion (£1.5 billion) to acquire Hawaiian Airlines, setting it up for a potential run-in with the Biden administration, which has expressed concern over the industry's increased fares.
Plane passengers stuck on flight for 13 hours - only to end up where they began
The 49th and 50th states in the union would retain their own airline brands. Alaska will purchase Hawaiian shares for $18 in cash per share. Hawaiian's stock ended at $4.86 this week, having lost slightly more than half of its value this year.
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