Alaska Airlines plane had warnings days before mid-air blowout

Alaska Airlines placed restrictions on the Boeing plane involved in a dramatic mid-air blowout after pressurisation warnings in the days before Friday’s incident, investigators say.

Pilots reported warning lights on three previous flights, said Jennifer Homendy of the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

As a result, the airline prevented the jet from making long-haul flights over water, Ms Homendy said.

No-one on board was hurt in the drama.

After losing part of its fuselage, the plane – a Boeing 737 Max 9 – made a safe emergency landing back in Portland, with 177 passengers and crew on board.

It is not clear if there is a link between the issues that led to previous pressurisation warnings, and the issue that caused the later blowout.

NTSB chief Ms Homendy set out new details of the “very chaotic” and “terrifying” situation on board Alaska Airlines flight 1282 on 5 January.

The force of the blowout caused the door of the cockpit to open and a laminated checklist and the first officer’s headset both flew out into the cabin, she said.

She added that no information from the cockpit voice recorder was available because it was not retrieved before a two-hour cut off.

Ms Homendy later announced that the part of the fuselage that detached had been found, after a teacher named Bob located the missing section in his yard.

The authorities had been searching for the door plug – a piece of fuselage with a window that can be used as an emergency exit in certain configurations – in Portland, the city the plane had departed minutes before.

It was described by Ms Homendy as the “key missing component” to work out why the incident happened.

The flight to Ontario, California, had reached 16,000ft (4,876m) when it began its emergency descent, according to flight tracking data.

One passenger, Diego Murillo, said the gap left by the missing component was “as wide as a refrigerator”.

Some 171 Boeing 737 Max 9 planes remain grounded by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as safety checks continue.

Boeing said in a statement: “Safety is our top priority and we deeply regret the impact this event has had on our customers and their passengers.”

Alaska Airlines said in its most recent statement: “While we await the airworthiness directive (AD) inspection criteria from the FAA and Boeing, our maintenance teams are prepared and ready to perform the required inspections of the mid exit door plugs on our 737-9 MAX fleet.

“The 737-9 MAX grounding has significantly impacted our operation. We have cancelled 170 Sunday flights and 60 cancellations for Monday, with more expected.”