Alaska Airlines Flight 1282’s Missing Door Found In Portland Teacher’s Backyard

After Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 lost a door during mid-flight last week, federal safety officials have been scrambling to locate the missing piece.

On January 18, Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, revealed: “I’m excited to announce that we found the door plug.”

This door was discovered in the Portland area in the yard of a local school teacher named Bob Sauer. He reported his discovery by sending two pictures to the NTSB. The NTSB said it would retrieve the piece and begin analyzing it to identify the source of the malfunction.

In addition to the door plug, two cellphones belonging to passengers have also been located.

A door plug is used to cover a space that is usually used for a door.

Investigators have not identified the cause of the malfunction yet. However, the door plug could be the key that helps wrap up the investigation.

Alaska Airlines has ordered the grounding and inspection of all its Boeing 737 Max 9 airplanes to avoid another potential disaster.

Boeing previously experienced two crashes of its 737, leading to a lengthy grounding of the fleet.

Passengers and crew report hearing a loud “bang” before the door flew off the plane.

No one was injured in the incident, but experts say it could have been deadly if the plane had been at a higher altitude when passengers don’t usually have their seat belts on.

United Airlines said they found bolts loose in the door plugs of several of its 737 jets when it examined them.