© AFP via Getty ImageAlaska Airlines has come under a litany of criticism over safety issues this winter. 3
Alaska Airlines has come under a litany of criticism over safety issues this winter.
Alaska Airlines has come under a litany of criticism over safety issues this winter.
The cargo hold was stowing passenger's pets, according to local TV station KOIN, although none of the animals were injured. The plane had flown in from Los Cabos, Mexico.
Alaska Airlines told KOIN in a statement that "there was no indication to the crew that the door was unsealed during [last Friday's] flight and all indications point to the door partially opening after landing."
"Our maintenance teams inspected the aircraft, replaced a spring in the door, tested the door and reentered it into service," the Alaska Airlines statement concluded.
© KOIN6Embattled Alaska Airlines is at the center of a second aviation drama after a plane arrived at an airport gate in Portland, Ore. with its cargo door open.
Alaska Airlines hit headlines in January after a door plug blew off mid-air during a flight from Portland to Ontario, Calif.
While the company appeared to downplay any issues, aviation expert Joe Schwieterman told KOIN that a cargo door opening up on its own as "a pretty major defect."
"It affects a lot of the electrical equipment in that cargo hold. So, it is troublesome that you may have a plane where some things like this went undetected," he said.
Both Boeing and Alaska Airlines are already amid a $1B lawsuit over plane safety. The chair of the National Transportation Safety Board also warned that the January incident could be repeated.
That aircraft was a Boeing 737 MAX 8.
Meanwhile on Friday, a Boeing 737 MAX 9 rolled off a runway at Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport, forcing all passengers to evacuate.
The United Airlines flight had been scheduled to fly to Memphis, Tenn.
Comment: Much of Boeing's problems are self-inflicted:
- 'Designed by clowns and supervised by monkeys': Senate investigation into Boeing air disasters reveals what employees thought of 737-MAX
- 737 Max jets are 'flying coffins': Boeing CEO skewered by Congress for concealing deadly software problems
- Boeing outsourced its 737 MAX software to $9-per-hour engineers to cut costs
- Boeing's corporate nosedive: How greed ruined a great American company
But, there are also the twin whammies of a growing competency gap, exacerbated by lunatic DEI policies. Turns out the best qualified employees still seem to be old white guys.