CNN
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Emily Wiprud, the first pilot on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 on Jan. 5, said in an interview with CBS News on Wednesday that she initially believed people had been killed when the plane’s door plug was blown off shortly after takeoff.
“I opened the cockpit door. And I saw silence. Hundreds of eyes staring at me. And I looked at my flight attendants and asked, ‘Are you OK?’ And in response I heard, ‘hole,’ ‘four, five empty seats,’ and ‘injuries.'”
Wiprud said she thought people had been thrown from the plane, but the flight crew quickly determined that all passengers and crew were present.
“I remember it wasn’t long before we realized there were 177 people on board,” Wiprud said. “I was so grateful. I was in shock.”
A door plug, a part of the fuselage that takes the place of an emergency exit door on planes with certain seating configurations, had been blown away, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the plane. Federal investigations later found that Boeing had delivered the 737 Max plane to Alaska Airlines without four screws designed to hold the door plug in place.
Wiprud said she knew from the cockpit that something terrible had happened, but did not immediately notice that the door stopper had blown off.
“The first sign was: There was an explosion in my ears. And then a rush of air. My body was thrown forward and there was a loud bang,” Wiprud said in her interview with CBS. “I didn’t know there was a hole in the plane until we landed.”
She said the sound of the air rushing through the plane was “so incredibly loud,” and after putting on her oxygen mask, Wiprud said she could no longer hear anything through her headset. The reason: Her headset was no longer on her head. It had been ripped off when the cabin was depressurized.
Wiprud helped land the plane safely and no one on board was seriously injured.
Despite months of investigations and hearings, many questions about the incident remain unanswered. Neither Boeing nor the National Transportation Safety Board know how the 737 Max could have been delivered to Alaska Airlines without the four screws.
The incident has severely damaged Boeing’s reputation for safety and quality. The company has replaced its CEO and now has a court overseer to monitor compliance with federal safety standards.
