A terrified passenger aboard a near-disaster Alaska Airlines flight has revealed the moment she texted her family “I don't want to die” after a window on the jet burst.
Emma Vu took to TikTok after surviving Friday night's horror Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, which flew from Portland to California before a cabin window blew into the sky at 16,000 feet.
“I was so scared at that moment,” Vu said as she showed her panicked text messages to her family, reading: “The masks are down; I'm so scared right now; Please pray for me; Please, I don't want to die.'
In an interview with 7News Australia, she added: “I was more scared of the plane crashing… I looked outside and saw it was going pretty smoothly. I think everyone who was freaking out inside was freaking me out.”
Thankfully, no injuries were reported on the plane, although some passengers lost their phones and belongings as the loss of cabin pressure sucked items into the night.
The National Transportation Safety Board, Alaska Airlines and Boeing have opened investigations, with the Boeing 737-9 MAX jet not due to enter service until November 2023.
Alaska Airlines grounded dozens of its Boeing 737-9 MAX jets for urgent safety checks after the emergency landing.
Passenger Emma Vu said she “felt the entire plane go down” about 20 minutes into Friday night's terrifying Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, flying from Portland to California, before a cabin window 16,000 feet into the sky exploded
Alaska Flight 1282 took off from Portland shortly after 5 p.m. local time on Friday when, at 16,000 feet, a window shattered and ripped off a child's shirt
Vu revealed her final text messages to her family pleading “I don't want to die” and shared a selfie she took at the moment she feared could be her last
The panic-stricken passenger said she was disappointed by the airlines' response, which she said consisted only of snacks, drinks and a new flight the next day
Shocking footage from inside the plane showed fliers sitting in eerie silence shortly after the window exploded, peering out a gaping hole in the fuselage as the twinkling lights of Portland could be seen below.
Vu said she was sleeping when the devastating safety failure erupted out of the blue when she “felt the entire plane crashing.”
“The masks fell and people screamed,” she continued, alongside a tearful selfie she took at the moment she feared could be her last.
“I'm so grateful for the ladies who sat next to me…they were kind enough to calm me down and the flight attendants gave oxygen tanks to those who needed it more,” she said.
“But I was freaked out because my sleeping bag wouldn't inflate – and that's literally what they tell you when it comes to safety: Don't worry, you'll still get airflow… when you're in a fight or are on the run.” “I’m not thinking about that.”
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“It was just so scary, no one knew what was happening, the pilot came and told everyone to put their mask on before helping others – literally what they tell you in safety training.”
“A toddler had his shirt blown off and his phone flew out the window,” she added. “It was just so surreal.”
In audio recordings from the cockpit, the pilot could be heard calling for emergency help over the radio and saying: “Portland approach, Alaska 1282 emergency!” The aircraft is now leveling 12,000 in a left turn towards three, four, zero.
“We need a distraction.” We have declared an emergency. We are out of pressure. We have 177 passengers on board and a seal is…18,900', the pilot is heard explaining.
Another passenger, 20-year-old Elizabeth, told Oregon Live that the moment the window shattered, “it felt like my ears were popping, like they normally do on a plane, but ten times louder.” I couldn't believe it was real.'
“We were all calm,” she said of her fellow passenger, “but I felt like I was going to cry because who knows these could be my last moments.”
Another passenger, Kyle Rinker, 29, said the plane became “deadly quiet.” Nobody made a noise.'
26A, the seat next to the blown window, was reportedly unoccupied.
The passenger included a photo taken by another airman of the blown window, which was reportedly intended as an emergency exit but was being used as a normal cabin window
A photo shows the blown window. It is offered as a door on the plane. Alaska decided against this option, even though the frame of the future door was completely torn out by the hull damage
The Boeing 737-9 MAX rolled off the assembly line just two months ago and received its certification in November 2023, according to FAA records posted online
In videos posted on social media, passengers can be seen sitting quietly and wearing oxygen masks as the plane returns to the runway
Vu shared this smiling selfie she took just before her brush with death
After being awakened by the blown window, Vu revealed the panicked text messages she sent to her family, telling them: “I don't want to die.”
After the reality of the situation set in and the plane landed safely, Vu said she was disappointed with Alaska Airlines' response to help the frightened passengers.
She said the airline only offered her drinks and snacks and a refunded flight for the next day with extra legroom, which she said was “really not enough” to make up for the ordeal.
Upon landing, she said, the airmen “stood in this really long Alaska line, and it didn't move for about an hour or two.”
“I even tried calling Alaska customer service to see if I could get things done quicker, but it didn’t work.”
Despite her brush with death, Vu said she decided to still take the free flight to California the next day because “I feel like something like this really can't happen twice.”
Annoyed by the airline's response, she concluded, “Alaska, I would like some money, maybe some money for therapy, maybe another flight.”
Investigations have been launched to determine how the catastrophic failure occurred. The jet was reportedly recently built and put into service.
The burst window was designed as an emergency exit, but the door was disabled by Boeing before delivery.
Therefore, from the inside it looks like a normal window seat, but from the outside the frame of the deactivated door remains visible. The torn out hull area fits perfectly with the door frame, suggesting possible structural failure.
According to Airline Reporter, the emergency exit doors are designed to open inward and cannot be pushed outward.
The National Safety Transport Board said it is investigating the incident and will provide any updates as they become available.
Fortunately, 26A, the seat next to what appeared to be an emergency exit with a window, was reportedly unoccupied
The Alaska plane returned to Portland Airport less than an hour after takeoff
Alaska Airlines rebooked passengers on an 11 p.m. flight from PDX, but one passenger said she was disappointed with the airlines' response
Alaska Airlines says it is grounding 65 of its Boeing 737-9 MAX jets for urgent safety checks in response to the incident.
The airline's CEO, Ben Minicucci, said in a statement that the planes will not be reintroduced to the fleet until preventive maintenance is completed, which he said will be “in the next few days.”
The Boeing 737-9 MAX rolled off the assembly line just two months ago and received its certification in November 2023, according to FAA records posted online.
In a statement late Friday evening, Alaska Airlines said: “An incident occurred on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 from Portland, Oregon to Ontario, California shortly after departure this evening.”
“The aircraft landed safely back at Portland International Airport with 171 guests and 6 crew members.
“The safety of our guests and employees is always our top priority. Although incidents of this nature are rare, our flight crew has been trained and prepared to handle the situation safely.”
“We are investigating what happened and will share more information as it becomes available.”
Boeing introduced its 737 Max in 2015 and has become one of the most widely used aircraft in the world since receiving certification from the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) in 2017.
A year later, the first crash occurred: In October 2018, a 737 Max from the Indonesian airline Lion Air crashed shortly after takeoff, killing all 189 passengers.
Five months later, in March 2019, a second 737 Max – this one operated by Ethiopian Airlines – crashed again shortly after takeoff, killing all 157 on board.
Three days later, the FAA grounded the planes.
It later emerged that Boeing employees had been cavalier about FAA regulations in internal communications and criticized the Max's design.
One said the plane was “designed by clowns who are in turn supervised by monkeys.”
On March 11, 2019, the wreckage of the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX aircraft is spotted
A Lion Air Boeing 737-MAX crashed in Badung Bali in 2013 after overshooting the runway at Bali Ngurah Rai Airport
The 737's design dates back to the 1960s and Boeing was criticized for putting large engines on an old airframe rather than using a “clean sheet design.”
Errors were discovered in the aircraft's MCAS (Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System): in both the Lion Air and Ethiopian Air crashes, it was discovered that the MCAS had incorrectly pointed the nose down toward the ground and the pilots failed to override it could.
In 2021, Boeing agreed to pay $2.5 billion in fines as part of a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice to resolve allegations that the company concealed key information about the Max from regulators and the public .
Boeing spent billions overhauling the systems and the planes returned to global skies in fall 2020 after being grounded for 20 months – the longest such operation in aviation history.