On Jan. 5, 2024, passengers on flight 1282 traveling from Portland, Oregon, to Ontario, California, were shocked when just a few minutes into the flight, one of the plane doors fell off the plane. The flight was being operated by Alaska Airlines and being flown on a Boeing 737 Max 9. According to the National Transportation Safety Board, the cabin was depressurized which exposed the passengers to open air thousands of feet above the ground.

Passengers were understandably panicked with some reporting that they sent “what they thought would be their final text messages in this world” to loved ones. Four of the passengers were so distressed that they are now suing Alaska Airlines for the “intense fear, distress, anxiety, trauma [and] physical pain,” that they endured while on the flight. Seattle attorney Mark Lindquist is representing the four passengers in their legal proceedings for the emotional damages sustained during the flight. Lindquist is also accusing Alaska Airlines on product liability counts, saying that the plane was “unreasonably dangerous and defective.”

The lawsuit also alleges that Boeing knew the plane had a faulty door plug and that Alaska Airlines management determined the aircraft unsafe to fly over the ocean but continued to fly it over land. To add fuel to the fire, Alaska Airlines pilots had reported a pressurization alert on that plane three separate times between Dec. 7 and Jan. 4, but the concerns were dismissed and the planes were deemed safe to fly. Boeing planes have been involved in multiple accidents in the last few years. For example, in March 2019, there were two plane crashes that took the lives of 346 people. This corroborates the conspiracy that Boeing planes aren’t safe. In fact, there are online support groups for people who are scared of Boeing planes with some claiming that they will book multiple flights, extending the travel time exponentially just to avoid flying on Boeing planes and recent events might just prove these theorists correct. 

Even the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)  is questioning the safety of Boeing planes. Following the January 5 incident, the FAA grounded 171 Boeing 737 Max 9 planes worldwide. Not only did this affect travel globally, but Boeing stock (BA) dropped more than 8% the following Monday, and shares of a common aerospace supplier, Spirit AeroSystems (SPR) fell by about 11%. Additionally, shares of Alaska Air Group declined 0.2%. 

This all begs the question, how safe is air travel and are airline companies doing everything they can to keep passengers safe?