Key Clue Found After Section of Plane Suddenly Blows Off Mid-Flight

A door plug that flew off an Alaska Airlines flight during a chaotic sequence last week was discovered in an Oregon backyard, according to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on Sunday.

An investigation by the NTSB into what caused Alaska Airlines flight 1282 to make an emergency landing due to "explosive decompression" remains ongoing. The plane, destined for Ontario, California, departed at 5:06 p.m. local time Friday from Portland International Airport in Oregon and reached an altitude of 16,325 feet before landing about 20 minutes later after a section of the aircraft blew off in mid-air. No major injuries were sustained among the 174 passengers and six crew members aboard.

On Friday, Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci said in a statement that all 65 of the airline's Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft would be grounded and only returned to service after completion of full maintenance and safety inspections. Reuters reported that the airline canceled 170 flights on Sunday with another 60 cancellations anticipated for Monday following the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) order to ground 171 Boeing 737 Max 9 airplanes for inspections, affecting approximately 25,000 Alaska Airlines passengers.

"We are not releasing imagery of the door plug until we take possession and confirm what we hope it is," an NTSB spokesperson told Newsweek on Monday. "If confirmed as evidence, we should have something to release this afternoon."

In addition, an Alaska Airlines spokesperson told Newsweek on Monday that as of Sunday evening, the airline is formally a party to the NTSB investigation and therefore cannot provide details about the aircraft involved in flight 1282.

On Sunday, NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said following a press conference that investigators found a missing door plug that may provide authorities with a better indicator of why part of the plane became detached.

The 63-pound, 26-by-48-inch plug, which is yellowish-green on one side and white on the other, was found in the backyard of a Portland, Oregon-area resident only identified as "Bob," a schoolteacher. Upon finding the piece, he sent two photos to the NTSB.

"I'm excited to announce that we found the door plug," Homendy said, who thanked Bob and added that investigators were starting to analyze the piece, which initially caused some worry to authorities due to potentially being camouflaged with vegetation.

Homendy explained that the door plug is not actually a door, but helps hold a door in place. It consists of two hinges on the bottom that open about 15 degrees for inspections, with six stop fittings on each side. Fittings, paint marks and additional fractures were planned to be analyzed in a lab with a microscope to better understand the reasoning for "deformation."

Authorities also discovered two cellphones from the flight, one in a yard and another on the side of the road.

"Cellphones have actually helped us determine some things that occurred after tragedies," Homendy added.

Passengers aboard the flight thought the worst when the lights flickered, oxygen masks descended, and noticed that a section of the plane had virtually disappeared.

"The first thing I thought was, 'I'm going to die,'" Vi Nguyen, 22, a passenger from Portland, told The New York Times on Sunday.

Nicholas Hoch, 33, who was seated near the front of the plane, reportedly texted messages saying he loves his mother and girlfriend, thinking he might not make it out alive, the Times reported.

"There was a kid in that row, his shirt was sucked off him and out of the plane," one passenger told CBS News on Saturday. "His mother was holding onto him to make sure he didn't go with it."

Boeing Max aircrafts have been formerly criticized following two deadly crashes in 2018 and 2019. All 737 Max aircrafts were grounded worldwide in March 2019 for about 18 months due to issues with the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) led two flights to go into automated nosedives.

The planes underwent significant modifications before being returned to service in December 2020.

Update 1/8/24, 10:40 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with response from Alaska Airlines.