PORTLAND, Ore. ( KOIN ) — Sunday marks one year since an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 had its door plug blown out in midair on Jan. 5, 2024 on its trip from PDX to Ontario, California.
That same door plug plunged thousands of feet and landed in a tree in a Portland science teacher’s backyard in the West Haven neighborhood.
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Bob Sauer, the now-retired teacher, recounted the following days when people were searching all over Portland to find the missing piece of evidence. And had it not been for a call from a friend, he may not have found it at all.
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FILE – This image taken Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024, and released by the National Transportation Safety Board, shows the section of a a Boeing 737 Max where a door plug fell while Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 was in flight. (NTSB via AP, File) -
NTSB lead investigator John Lovell looks at the blown door area on the Boeing 737 Max 9 that blew off on Alaska Flight 1282, January 7, 2024 (NTSB) -
Alaska Airlines flight headed for Ontario, Calif. diverted back to PDX after a window blew out (Courtesy to KOIN from passenger who want to remain anonymous) -
A hole where a door plug blew out on Alaska Flight 1282 is inspected by the NTSB, January 7, 2024 (NTSB) -
Sean Bates found one of 2 cell phones that flew out of an Alaska Air jet when the door blew at 16,000 feet. NTSB investigators arrived at the scene along Barnes Road in Portland, January 7, 2024 (Sean Bates) -
Portland school teacher Bob Sauer found a door plug from Alaska Air 1282 in his backyard, January 8, 2024 (KOIN) -
FILE – This photo released by the National Transportation Safety Board shows the door plug from Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 on Jan. 8, 2024, in Portland, Ore. Investigators say bolts that helped secure the panel on the Boeing jetliner were missing before the panel blew off the plane in midflight last month. The National Transportation Safety Board issued a preliminary report Tuesday, Feb. 6 into the Jan. 5 accident. The loss of the panel forced pilots of the Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 jet to make a harrowing emergency landing. (National Transportation Safety Board via AP, file) -
The door plug from the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282’s Boeing 737-9 MAX airplane is shown at the National Transportation Safety Board laboratory, in Washington, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. The door plug is showing some signs of wearing out, scratches caused by rubbing against hard surfaces and a gap on the top section above the window (front bottom of the picture). (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) -
Diagram of door plug components. (Source: Boeing. Image Copyright © Boeing. Reproduced with permission.) -
FILE – A door plug area of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9, with paneling removed, is shown prior to inspection at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Jan. 10, 2024, in SeaTac, Wash. Air safety in general and concerns about Boeing-made planes in particular have been on the minds of many since January, when a panel covering an emergency door hole blew off an Alaska Airlines plane flying 16,000 feet above Oregon. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)
