“Thrust Into A Walking Nightmare”: Alaska Air Passengers Sue Boeing After Door Blows Off 737 MAX 9 Mid-Flight

Berry v. Boeing – has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?

That’s the case that was always inevitably going to be filed against Boeing, resulting from the incident a little more than a week ago where a door blew off a Boeing 737 MAX 9 during mid flight. 

As we noted at the time, a brand new Boeing 737 MAX 9 operated by Alaska Airlines, was forced to make an emergency landing at Portland International Airport shortly after takeoff earlier this month due to its mid-cabin exit door detaching from the aircraft mid-flight. This incident was recorded and shared on social media platform X. 

And now the legal liability deluge is beginning, according to Insurance Journal. Seven passengers on the flight are seeking class action status and suing for physical injuries and emotional trauma,

The complaint reads: “The pressure change made ears bleed and combined with low oxygen, loud wind noise and traumatic stress made heads ache severely. Passengers were shocked, terrorized and confused, thrust into a waking nightmare, hoping they would live long enough to walk the earth again.”

“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 continues, according to the article. 

“Passengers feared they would not survive the flight. Some prayed. Some texted family to express their trepidation. Some gripped and clung to one another. Some adult passengers were crying. Most were eerily subdued in their collective helpless state, muted with masks on.”

“During the flight, a sudden decompression occurred once the door detached, leading to an emergency landing. In video footage captured during the incident, the emergency exit can be seen torn off and oxygen masks deployed. There are no reports of serious injuries,” aviation blog Airways Magazine wrote in a note about the incident earlier this month. 

Passengers aboard Flight 1282 reported a sudden and loud noise similar to an explosion, followed by the detachment of the left door plug from the aircraft. This resulted in a rapid and forceful decompression of the cabin, the suit says. 

The IJ report added that Boeing is currently under investigation by U.S. regulators due to the incident. Boeing did not comment about the lawsuit. Dave Calhoun, Boeing’s CEO, acknowledged that an issue concerning quality had impacted the safety of one of their jets, though the specifics of the problem are still being determined.