A terrifying incident aboard an Alaska Airlines flight last week forced an emergency landing and resulted in the entire fleet of Boeing 737 Max 9 passenger jets being grounded for thorough inspections.
Now, passengers aboard the plane that experienced a mishap with its door that resulted in a large hole opening up in its fuselage just a few minutes after takeoff are now suing Boeing.
A class-action lawsuit was filed Thursday against Boeing on behalf of multiple passengers who were aboard an Alaska Airlines flight last week that was forced to make an emergency landing after a portion of the fuselage blew out in midair. https://t.co/MrcjyOOo5P pic.twitter.com/ETq0TdRkT3
— CBS News (@CBSNews) January 12, 2024
The class-action lawsuit was filed in Seattle, Washington, on Thursday and attorney Daniel Laurence laid out the case on behalf of the passengers.
“Unfortunately, although everyone is glad that the blow-out occurred while the crew could still manage to land the aircraft safely, this nightmare experience has caused economic, physical, and ongoing emotional consequences that have understandably deeply affected our clients, and is one more disturbing mark on the troubled 737-MAX series aircraft,” he wrote in an initial court filing.
Authorities noted that the consequences could have been much more serious if the door plug had failed after the plane had reached its cruising altitude.
“We are very, very fortunate here that this didn’t end up in something more tragic,” explained National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy. “No one was seated in 26A and 26B, where that door plug is.”
As it was, an array of personal items were sucked out of the cabin, some of which have been recovered — including an iPhone that was reportedly still functional after the 16,000-foot drop.
The NTSB and the Federal Aviation Administration soon launched their own investigations into the incident and Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun addressed the situation days later.
“We’re going to approach this, number one, acknowledging our mistake,” he said. “We’re going to approach it with 100% and complete transparency every step of the way.”
For his part, Laurence cited that statement as part of his basis for pursuing the lawsuit.
“But given Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun’s forthright admission that this terrifying event was caused by Boeing’s ‘mistake’ (a soft take on its apparent negligence), our passenger clients elected to file suit as soon as possible in order to seek fair compensation for their injuries and those of all other passengers, spouses, and registered domestic partners, as soon as reasonably possible,” the attorney added.
Alaska Airlines confirmed that all 177 passengers aboard the flight received a full refund and a payment of $1,500 “to cover any incidental expenses to ensure their immediate needs were taken care of.”
