Three passengers suing the airline and Boeing for $1 billion after Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 that had to make an emergency landing after a door plug blew off mid-flight.
"As a direct result of the frightful, death-threatening failure of the Boeing aircraft, Mr. Kwok, Mr. Rinker, and Ms. Strickland suffered severe mental, emotional, and psychological injuries, including post-traumatic stress, and physical injuries," the lawsuit says, noting how the sudden pressure change inside the cabin "caused some passengers' ears to bleed."
Jonathan W. Johnson, LLC, an aviation law firm, filed a lawsuit in Oregon on behalf of passengers aboard Alaskan Airlines flight 1282. The aircraft was a Boeing 737 Max 9 that was traveling from Portland, Oregon to Ontario, California.
After a portion of the aircraft blew off mid-flight, it made an emergency landing in Portland. The case was filed in the state of Oregon. The case number is Multomah county 24CV08845.
The lawsuit seeks both compensatory and punitive damages, to be determined at trial, from Boeing, the corporate giant that manufactured the 737 Max 9 jet flown by Alaska Airlines.
Kyle Rinker, Amanda Strickland, and Kevin Kwok were passengers. Kyle Rinker and Amanda Strickland were sitting two rows diagonally behind Jack, the 15-year-old whose shirt was sucked off. The routine flight abruptly ended when the Boeing 737 side panel explosively detached leaving a massive hole in the aircraft.
The lawsuit alleges the incident on Flight 1282 is :
"just one terrible chapter in the evolving story of Boeing and Alaska Airlines placing profits above safety."
Alaska Airlines identified a "pressurization issue" with the aircraft prior to the blow out. The panel detaching resulted in depressurization inside the aircraft and caused air masks to drop down for the passengers.
Bolts were missing where the door plugs detached. Boeing CEO, David Calhoun, says that he was "shaken to the bone" after hearing about this avoidable accident that put hundreds of innocent lives in danger.
It seeks to hold Boeing accountable for its negligence which had caused extreme panic, fear, and post-traumatic stress. This experience jeopardized the lives of the 174 passengers and 6 crew members that were on board.
For those reasons, the lawsuit seeks substantial punitive damages from Boeing for what was a preventable incident and because the defects in manufacturing impacted numerous other aircraft and threatened the lives of the passengers on all Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft, which were all grounded by the FAA following the incident.
Boeing is also facing another class-action lawsuit brought by passengers on the Alaska Airlines flight, which alleges that the Jan. 5 incident "physically injured some passengers and emotionally traumatized most if not all on board." Alaska Airlines has not been named as a defendant in that suit.
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