PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) – An Alaska Airlines plane was forced to make an emergency landing at Portland International Airport Friday evening after a large portion of the plane exploded in mid-air, according to several passengers.
Dramatic photos sent to us by a passenger on the plane who wished to remain anonymous show a large portion of the plane's fuselage missing.
At 7:26 p.m. (PST), Alaska Airlines announced on Alaska confirmed to KPTV via email that there were 174 passengers and 6 crew members on board the flight.
The flight was from PDX to Ontario, California. It left Portland at 4:40 p.m. and landed back in Portland around 5:30 p.m
Plane emergency landing PDX (passenger photo sent to KPTV)
One passenger we spoke to at the airport said a child had to be restrained in his seat by his mother and people lost their phones, which were sucked out of the plane.
Another child who was closest to the damaged part of the plane lost his shirt due to the violent and sudden loss of pressure, but otherwise everyone on board was fine, according to a passenger.
Several people on board the flight, who did not want to be named, told us that the plane's oxygen masks opened immediately after depressurization and several people used the masks while waiting for the plane to land at PDX.
The Alaska Airlines flight landed at Portland International Airport on Friday, January 5, 2024, after part of the plane exploded mid-flight. (Passenger photo provided to KPTV)
A passenger named Diego Murillo told KPTV that Alaska Airlines rebooked him on an 11 p.m. flight from PDX. Otherwise, the airline didn't tell him anything about the incident.
Murillo said he and his family were preparing to reach their final destination around 2 a.m. Saturday.
FOX 12 has reached out to the FAA, Alaska Airlines and the airport for more details. This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
Copyright 2024 KPTV-KPDX. All rights reserved.