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Alaska Air door panel found in Oregon backyard
The National Transportation Safety Board has taken possession of key evidence which may provide answers to the Alaska Airlines mid-air blow out.
The missing door plug has been recovered from an Oregon teacher’s backyard.
“I’m excited to announce that we found the door plug,” National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy told reporters.
However, the NTSB said the plane’s cockpit voice recorder data was mistakenly taped over.
Two cell phones which blew out of the cabin have been recovered with at least one intact virtually without a scratch.
As the fuselage panel blew out, the cabin suffered depressurization.
This led to headset problems for the captain and first officer.
They had to turn on a speaker for communication, Homendy said.
“Communication was a serious issue.”
It caused the cockpit door to violently swing open.
“It blew open during the explosive decompression,” Homendy said.
“The actions of the flight crew were really incredible. It was very violent when the door was expelled out of the plane. There was a lot going on.”
Homendy said seats in 12 rows suffered damage.
The FAA has ordered certain Boeing 737 Max 9 jets grounded while inspections are carried out.
The NTSB also revealed air pressurization alerts were triggered on the same plane at least twice before.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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