Report: The door that blew out mid-air Alaska Airlines flight was manufactured in Malaysia

The leader of the safety agency overseeing the investigation into the alarming incident where the door of an Alaska Airlines flight blew out mid-air has provided an update on Wednesday, January 17. Jennifer Homendy, Chief of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), revealed that the blown-out panel of the jetliner was manufactured in Malaysia by Boeing’s primary supplier.

Specifically, Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, which took off from Portland, Oregon, experienced a harrowing situation on Friday, January 5, necessitating an emergency landing due to a door “plug” blowing off when the plane was at an alarming altitude of 16,000 feet.

Homendy highlighted that the panel in question was produced by Spirit AeroSystems, and the safety agency is currently scrutinizing the production process to determine the cause of the malfunction. This update follows a closed-door meeting between Homendy and members of the Senate Commerce Committee in Washington, as reported by the media.

A representative from Spirit AeroSystems, in a statement aligned with the information provided by the NTSB head, acknowledged that the panel in question was indeed manufactured by the company. The spokesperson from Spirit AeroSystems also reassured that the company is prepared to offer any assistance required by the NTSB to thoroughly investigate the incident.