NTSB chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said the blame for the horrifying mid-flight door blowout on an Alaska Airlines flight last year falls on airplane manufacturer Boeing, its supplier Spirit AeroSystems, and the Federal Aviation Administration.

The incident involved Alaska Airlines flight 1282, a Boeing 737 Max, when a door plug panel ripped off the aircraft shortly after takeoff in January 2024.

Homendy said Tuesday the heroic actions of the flight crew ensured everyone survived the incident.

“The safety deficiencies that led to this accident should have been evident to Boeing and the FAA,” Homendy said at a hearing Tuesday, according to CNN.

“I have lots of questions where the FAA was during all of this. The FAA is the absolute last barrier of defense when it comes to ensuring aviation safety,” she noted.

The agency will soon release a full report on the probable cause of the mid-flight door panel blowout.

“The safety deficiencies that led to this accident should have been evident to Boeing and the FAA,” NTSB chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said in opening remarks.https://t.co/TWeHj49cKH

— Bryan Corliss (@BryanCorliss425) June 24, 2025

Per CNN:

The blowout occurred minutes into a January 2024 flight from Portland, Oregon, when a door plug blew out the side of the plane at about 16,000 feet. It ripped passengers’ clothing and phones out of the plane — but remarkably, there were no serious injuries on a flight that could easily have turned into a tragedy.

The NTSB’s preliminary findings had already revealed that four bolts that were supposed to hold the door plug in place were missing when the plane was delivered to Alaska Air in October 2023.

During Tuesday’s hearing Homendy praised the crew of the Alaska Air flight several times, calling their actions to get the plane on the ground without any casualties “heroic.”

“This crew shouldn’t have had to be heroes,” she said. “This accident should never have happened. An accident like this only happens when there are multiple system failures.”

WATCH:

WATCH LIVE: NTSB holds hearing on cause of Alaska Airlines’ Boeing 737 MAX 9 mid-air cabin blowout
https://t.co/vAj1tFLY0y

— PBS News (@NewsHour) June 24, 2025

From the Associated Press:

She said Boeing’s new CEO, Kelly Ortberg, has made many safety improvements since taking the job last summer, but more needs to be done.

The NTSB is expected to approve several recommendations at Tuesday’s meeting to keep something similar from happening again.

The blow out aboard Alaska Airlines flight 1282 occurred minutes after it took off from Portland, Oregon, and created a roaring air vacuum that sucked objects out of the cabin and scattered them on the ground below along with debris from the fuselage. Seven passengers and one flight attended sustained minor injuries, but no one was killed. Pilots were able to land the plane safely back at the airport.

The accident occurred as the plane flew at 16,000 feet (4,800 meters). Oxygen masks dropped during the rapid decompression and a few cellphones and other objects were swept through the hole in the plane as 171 passengers contended with wind and roaring noise.

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The first six minutes of the flight to Southern California’s Ontario International Airport were routine. The Boeing 737 Max 9 was about halfway to its cruising altitude and traveling at more than 400 mph (640 kph) when passengers described a loud “boom” and wind so strong it ripped the shirt off someone’s back.