Seat belt 'saved' life of passenger on Boeing 737 Max flight that lost panel, lawsuit says

A seat belt apparently saved the life of a passenger on the Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 jet that lost a door-sized panel of its fuselage just after takeoff on Jan. 5 from Portland, Oregon.

Cuong Tran, of Upland, California, who said the suction from the blowout took away his shoes and socks and pulled him toward the opening and injured his foot, is one of seven passengers on Flight 1282 that day who filed the lawsuit Thursday in Washington state's King County Superior Court in Seattle.

He and six other passengers – including five members of a Claremont, California, family – charge Alaska Airlines, Boeing, and Spirit Aerosystems with negligence, construction and manufacturing defect liability, and failing to protect passengers from harm.

The passengers have suffered physical and psychological trauma from the event, said attorney Timothy Loranger, who filed the lawsuit for the passengers. “Our clients – and likely every passenger on that flight – suffered unnecessary trauma due to the failure of Boeing, Spirit AeroSystems, and Alaska Airlines to ensure that the aircraft was in a safe and airworthy condition,” Loranger said in a press release announcing the lawsuit.

Suction lifted Tran's body off his seat "and his legs were pulled towards the opening all while the aircraft climbed through 16,000 feet above Portland," but the seat belt "saved him," he said. "Tran’s leg was jerked so violently that his foot was injured when it got trapped in the seat structure in front of him."

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When asked for comment about the lawsuit Thursday by The Associated Press, Boeing said, “We have nothing to add.” Alaska Airlines and Spirit AeroSystems did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

This is the second lawsuit filed in the incident. Last month, 22 other passengers on the flight filed a lawsuit accusing Boeing and Alaska Airlines of negligence. That suit was also filed in King County Superior Court.

In that suit, the passengers said after hearing a "whistling sound" emitting from "the vicinity of the door plug,” they told flight attendants about it. The suit alleges that a pilot was “reportedly informed,” but the pilot found the plane's instrument readings to be normal and no further action was taken.

What happened to the Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 on Jan. 5?

Shortly after Flight 1282 took off from Portland and headed for Ontario, California, a midcabin door plug separated from the fuselage at about 16,000 feet. The plane made an emergency landing and some passengers required medical attention.

A 15-year-old boy on board had his shirt "sucked off" after the mid-cabin door plug separated from the fuselage, one passenger said.

The Federal Aviation Administration grounded all Max 9s in the U.S. the day after the incident. Three weeks later the FAA allowed the planes to return to the air after inspections of the door plugs. On some planes the bolts meant to help secure the door plug were loose, airlines discovered.

The National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report last month the aircraft was missing four bolts that keep the door plug in place. The bolts were removed during other repair work and were not replaced before the interior wall panels were reinstalled, the agency said. The repairs were done by contractors working for Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems.

Alaska Airlines flight graphic: A Boeing 737 MAX 9 lost a panel midair, terrifying passengers. Here's how it happened.

Earlier this week, The Wall Street Journal reported the Justice Department has launched a criminal investigation into the Boeing jetliner incident. The probe would assist the DOJ’s review of whether Boeing complied with a 2021 settlement resolving a federal investigation into the 737 Max aircraft's safety after two deadly crashes in 2018 and 2019, which killed 346 people.

In the lawsuit, the defendants allege the aircraft's bolts were either not installed or installed incorrectly. The lawsuit also lists 10 unnamed defendants – John Does 1-10 who they allege were involved in the design, manufacture, upkeep, inspection and testing of the aircraft – with negligence and liability in the incident.

“The level of apparent negligence and disregard for safety protocols is astonishing and terrifying,” said Loranger, senior partner at LA-based Wisner Baum and a one-time aircraft mechanic in the Marine Corps.

What do the passengers say happened when the Boeing blowout happened?

Cuong Tran and friend Huy Tran, of Garden Grove, California, who began shooting video when the incident occurred, were seated in row 27 right behind the row where the door plug blew out.

They say a "deafening explosion" was followed by "an immediate and rapid decompression, exposing the passengers to the noise of the wind and the freezing outside environment," Loranger said in the release.

The Claremont, California, family, made up of father Ket Tran, mother Tram Vo, and their three young sons, "also feared for their lives," he said. The parents and Cuong Tran and Huy Tran have been friends since middle school, the law firm says.

The family is now in counseling to address the trauma they experienced, Loranger said.

“This lawsuit isn’t only about the unimaginable fear and suffering of the passengers on that plane, it is about a failure that should have never occurred,” said Ari Friedman, partner at Wisner Baum, in the release. “We’re talking about a gaping hole ripping open mid-flight in the side of a commercial jet. Properly installed bolts are the difference between safety and disaster, so there is no excuse for why those would be left out, or why quality control checks and routine inspections would miss them.”

Contributing: Zach Wichter and The Associated Press.

Follow Mike Snider on X and Threads: @mikesnider & mikegsnider.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Boeing, Alaska Airlines negligent in 737 Max 9 panel blowout: lawsuit