Critical piece of Alaska Airlines Boeing plane found in Portland school teacher’s backyard

Critical parts from an Alaska Airlines Boeing plane that exploded mid-flight have been found in an Oregon schoolteacher's backyard, National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said.

“I'm excited to announce that we've discovered the door plug. Thank you, Bob,” Homendy said Sunday evening, returning to the podium after his first press conference about the door plug.e The NTSB is investigating the January 5 accident involving Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, a Boeing 737-9 MAX aircraft. A shocking social media video online showed the moment a passenger put on an oxygen mask after the plane's door was thrown open during the flight.

“I won't give Bob's last name, but Bob contacted me at witness@ntsb.gov with two photos of the door plug. He said he found it in his backyard. Thank you, Bob. Thank yourself. It's okay,” she said.

The door plug is a critical missing part as the NTSB continues to investigate what caused an unused exit door to blow off at about 16,000 feet just minutes after an Ontario-bound plane took off from Portland International Airport. It was thought that there was. The plane, carrying 171 passengers and six crew members, was forced to make an emergency landing in Portland, but no one was seriously injured.

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“I can tell you that Bob is a teacher at a school in Portland, so thank you so much, Bob. May you rest in peace,” Homendy added, declining to provide the address where the work was found. “From the photo you can only see the outside of the door plug. You can't see the white part, nothing else. But we're going to go pick it up and make sure we start analyzing it.”

At the beginning of the press conference, Homendy told reporters that two mobile phones were recovered by local residents after the incident, one in the garden and the other on the side of the road.

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National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy and other NTSB officials are investigating the Jan. 5 crash involving Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, a Boeing 737-9 MAX, in Portland, Oregon. (NTSB/FOX News)

X user Sean Sapphire shared a photo of one of the phones he claims he found on the side of the road.

He said that because the iPhone was still in airplane mode and had only half a battery left, it was accepted into baggage claim on ASA Flight 1282, assuming it was “perfectly” unscathed from the 16,000-foot fall. Stated.

Before handing over the phone to NTSB officials, Safire posted another photo showing the broken charging plug still attached after the device was apparently “pulled” from the plane's door.

Homendy outlined the first full day the NTSB worked to examine the plane, taking photos, identifying witness marks and parts, and examining it under a microscope as investigators looked for cracks, paint marks and other deformities. I explained that I wanted to send it back to the NTSB laboratory for a closer look. . The systems group recorded the entire flight deck and asked questions about the automatic pressurization fault light, which Homendy said had been on on three previous flights.

Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, a Boeing 737-9 MAX, experienced an “explosive decompression,” blowing off an unused exit door at an altitude of 16,000 feet. (NTSB/FOX News)

In interviews with investigators after the explosion, Homendy said crew members wearing oxygen masks reported hearing a bang before the door swung open.

“When this explosive decompression occurred and the door opened, the flight attendant reported seeing the first officer hurtling forward. At that moment, the first officer turned off his headset. “It was lost. It was pulled out. The captain pulled part of the headset off. “But they put on masks and turned on the speakers to communicate with people back in the cabin,” she said. Told. “Communications were a serious problem. Flight attendants reported that it was difficult to get information from the flight deck and there were communication problems on the flight deck as well.”

She praised the flight crew's “heroic” actions under extremely “chaotic” and “violent” conditions.

The NTSB continues to investigate the January 5 crash in Portland, Oregon, involving Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, a Boeing 737-9 MAX aircraft. (NTSB/FOX News)

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The cockpit voice recorder had been completely overwritten.

Homendy said on Sunday that while the investigation into the incident continues, “nothing was recorded on the cockpit voice recorder.”