Passengers reach settlement in $1 billion lawsuit over Alaska Airlines flight where door plug blew out at 16,000 feet

Three passengers who sued Alaska Airlines and Boeing after a door plug fell out of their plane at 16,000 feet have settled out of court.

These passengers were on board Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 from Portland to Ontario, California on January 5, 2024, when a door plug suddenly flew off the Boeing 737 Max jet mid-air. They sued Alaska Airlines and Boeing for $1 billion last year but settled out of court earlier this month, according to KPTV.

The lawsuit was dismissed on July 7 with prejudice, KPTV reports, which means they can’t refile the same lawsuit later. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed as part of the settlement agreement, their attorney said.

Last month, the National Transportation Safety Board ruled Boeing was at fault in the frightening incident. The agency said it found four bolts missing from the door plug, which caused it to slowly slide out of place for more than 100 flights until it finally fell off.

In a statement, Boeing said the company “regret[s] this accident” and will “continue to work on strengthening safety and quality across our operations.”

The agency says the 174 passengers on board were safe and accounted for thanks to the flight crew. Passengers said they were terrified for their lives, and reported the vacuum of air was so strong that personal belongings were sucked out. One person on board even said that his shirt was torn from his back.

NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said it’s a “miracle no one died.”

“This accident never should’ve happened,” Homendy said last month. “Since this occurred there’s been a lot of focus on human error – on the actions of one or two Boeing employees.”

“Let me be clear, an accident like this does not happen because of an individual – or even a group of individuals – aviation is much more resilient than that – an accident like this only happens when there are multiple system failures,” she added.

Dozens of whistleblowers came forward last summer to describe their concerns about the company’s safety protocols. Whistleblower Roy Irvin, who worked as a quality investigator for Boeing for six years, exclusively told The Independent that the “door blowout really hit home for me because I predicted this.”

“Things don’t get brought to anybody’s attention unless they’re found,” he added. “There’s other things that probably haven’t been found yet.”

The Independent has contacted Alaska Airlines and Boeing for comment.