A seatbelt saved the life of a passenger seated just one row behind the Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 door panel that blew out midair in January, according to a new lawsuit.
Cuong Tran’s body lifted out of his seat, suction tore off his shoes and socks, and his leg was injured when a door panel blew off the fuselage right in front of his row 27 window seat on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 on Jan. 5 over Portland, Oregon, a new lawsuit filed Thursday contends.
Tran, from Upland, California, credits his seat belt with holding him in place when air rushed out of the gaping hole at 16,000 feet in the air, lawyers in the case said in a news release.
The suit, filed in King County Superior Court on behalf of seven passengers including Tran against Boeing, Alaska Airlines, and Spirit AeroSystems, is just the latest one filed following the flight mishap.
The plaintiffs claim the blowout caused them to suffer physical and psychological trauma. In Tran’s case, his leg was “jerked so violently that his foot was injured when it got trapped in the seat structure in front of him,” the news release said.
The suit seeks punitive, compensatory and general damages for negligence, product construction and manufacturing defect liability and failure to protect passengers from harm.
The plane suffered “a serious structural failure” and a loud bang was heard shortly after takeoff when the left mid-exit door blew out, the suit said.
Subsequently, there was “rapid decompression” of the passenger compartment that sucked out phones, setbacks, cushions and clothes worn by passengers out of the plane, and emergency oxygen masks dropped, the complaint said.
“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,” trial attorney Timothy A. Loranger, who filed the suit, said.
When asked for comment Friday, Boeing said it had nothing else to add. NBC News has reached out to Alaska Airlines and Spirit AeroSystems for comment.
Flight 1282, carrying 174 passengers and six crew members, was bound for San Bernardino County, California, but turned back to Portland after the door plug detached shortly after takeoff. No one on board was seriously injured and the plane landed safely.
A preliminary investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board found that bolts had not been installed on that door plug.
The incident prompted increased oversight over Boeing aircraft production and the FAA to temporarily ground all Boeing 737 Max 9 airplanes operating in the U.S.
Since the catastrophe, Boeing has ousted the head its 737 Max program, passenger lawsuits have been filed, Boeing has been blasted and grilled in Senate committee meetings, and the Department of Justice has opened a criminal investigation.
