Missing Part from Alaska Airlines Plane That Experienced Mid-Air Blow Out Found in Oregon Teacher’s Backyard

Mar. 15, 2025

A missing part of theAlaska Airlines plane that experienced a mid-air blow outon Friday has been found in Oregon.

In amedia brieffrom National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy on Sunday, it was revealed that the missing piece of the aircraft was located in a teacher’s backyard in the Portland area.

“I’m excited to announce that we found the door plug,” Homendy said during the brief. She added that the teacher, named Bob, sent in two photos of the missing part.

“We are really pleased that Bob found this. I can just see the outside of the door plug from the pictures, the white portions, we can’t see anything else,” she added. “We’re going to go pick that up and make sure that we begin analyzing it.”

CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty

Two cellphones that had been sucked out of the plane were also found in another yard and on the side of a road, respectively, she shared. One of the residents whofound an iPhone shared photos of the intact deviceon social media, showing that it was still working and even open to an email with baggage claim information for the flight.

NTSB via Getty

The 65 Boeing 737-9 aircraft had departed from Portland, Ore. at 4:40 p.m. local time on Friday when the plane’s door plug blew out as it was approximately 16,000 feet in the air.

In anews releasefrom Alaska Airlines, the airline states that all 171 passengers and 6 crew members aboard Flight 1282 made it back safely to Portland International Airport following an emergency landing. The flight was headed to Ontario, California when it “experienced an incident soon after departure,” according to the release.

According to the airline, multiple passengers “experienced injuries that required medical attention” after the incident but they have all been medically cleared since.

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source: people.com