Portland: A window and a portion of the fuselage of an Alaska Airlines aircraft burst off in midair on Friday, forcing an emergency landing in Oregon. A passenger provided KATU-TV with a picture of what seems to be an empty exit row with no windows or doors. It was unclear right away if anyone had been hurt.
At 4:52 p.m., the aircraft took off from Portland for Ontario, California, and arrived back just before 5:30 p.m.
A significant portion of the aircraft's fuselage was gone, according to pictures sent in by a passenger, according to KPTV-TV, Associated Press reported.
According to FAA documents that are accessible online, the incident happened on Alaska flight 1282, a Boeing 737-9 MAX that was approved by the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) in November 2023—just two months before the flight.
"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.