Alaska Airlines planes are shown parked at gates at sunrise, March 1, 2021, at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Seattle.
Ted S. Warren/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Ted S. Warren/AP
Alaska Airlines planes are shown parked at gates at sunrise, March 1, 2021, at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Seattle.
Ted S. Warren/AP
PORTLAND, Ore. — An Alaska Airlines flight made an emergency landing in Oregon on Friday after a window and a chunk of its fuselage blew out in mid-air shortly after takeoff.
A passenger sent KATU-TV a photo showing a gaping hole in the side of the airplane next to passenger seats. It was not immediately clear if anyone was injured.
The airline said the plane landed safely with 174 passengers and six crew members.
“Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 from Portland, Oregon, to Ontario, California, experienced an incident this evening soon after departure,” the company said in an emailed statement.
The airline said it would share more information when it became available.
The plane was diverted after rising to 16,000 feet (4,876 meters) about about six minutes after taking off at 5:07 p.m., according to flight tracking data from the FlightAware website. It landed again at 5:26 p.m.
KPTV-TV reported photos sent in by a passenger showed a large section of the airplane’s fuselage was missing.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the plane landed safely after the…