An Alaska Airlines flight bound for Southern California was forced to turn around and make an emergency landing after a hole opened in the side of the plane shortly after takeoff Friday night.
Flight 1282 left Portland International Airport in Oregon around 5 p.m. and headed toward Ontario, with 171 passengers and six crew members on board, according to the airline.
As the plane gained altitude, a window and part of the plane’s wall exploded, according to social media reports. Alaska Airlines described the event as “an incident” and said the plane turned around and landed safely in Portland.
“The safety of our guests and employees is always our top priority, so while this type of occurrence is rare, our flight crew was trained and prepared to handle the situation safely,” Alaska Airlines said in a statement. released Friday night. “We are investigating what happened and will share more information as it becomes available.”
FlightAware, a public aircraft tracker, listed the total flight duration as 35 minutes.
A video posted to TikTok by a passenger on the flight showed a panel missing from the left side of the plane, with insulating foam visible. Oxygen masks were deployed from the ceiling.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the incident.
