Passengers Sue Boeing and Alaska Airlines After Panel Blows Out

Plaintiffs seek punitive damages of $1 billion dollars for systemic risks

PORTLAND, Ore. - Feb. 23, 2024 - PRLog -- Jonathan W. Johnson, LLC, an aviation law firm, filed a lawsuit in Oregon on behalf of passengers aboard Alaskan Airlines flight 1282. The aircraft was a Boeing 737 Max 9 that was traveling from Portland, Oregon to Ontario, California. After a portion of the aircraft blew off mid-flight, it made an emergency landing in Portland. The case was filed in the state of Oregon. The case number is Multomah county 24CV08845.

Kyle Rinker, Amanda Strickland, and Kevin Kwok were passengers. Kyle Rinker and Amanda Strickland were sitting two rows diagonally behind Jack, the 15-year-old whose shirt was sucked off. The routine flight abruptly ended when the Boeing 737 side panel explosively detached leaving a massive hole in the aircraft.

Alaska Airlines identified a "pressurization issue" with the aircraft prior to the blow out. The panel detaching resulted in depressurization inside the aircraft and caused air masks to drop down for the passengers.

There are ongoing investigations by the NTSB. Bolts were missing where the door plugs detached. Boeing CEO, David Calhoun, says that he was "shaken to the bone" after hearing about this avoidable accident that put hundreds of innocent lives in danger. Further inspections should have been made before the aircraft was placed in service. It seeks to hold Boeing accountable for its negligence which had caused extreme panic, fear, and post-traumatic stress. This experience jeopardized the lives of the 174 passengers and 6 crew members that were on board. For those reasons, the lawsuit seeks substantial punitive damages from Boeing for what was a preventable incident and because the defects in manufacturing impacted numerous other aircraft and threatened the lives of the passengers on all Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft, which were all grounded by the FAA following the incident.

About The Law Firm

Jonathan W. Johnson is an attorney located in Atlanta, Georgia who has litigated aviation accident cases for 31 years. He may be reached at by phone at (404) 888-0500 or by email at jwj@jonathanjohnsonatlantalawyer.com. His website is www.jonathanjohnsonatlantalawyer.com