Two passengers are speaking out about their experience when a door plug blew out at 16,000 feet on a Boeing 737 MAX 9 Alaska Airlines jet.
Representatives for Joan and Gilbert Marin said their decision to come forward follows new allegations that a whistleblower had informed Boeing of defects on their MAX 9 jets.
The couple was sitting two rows behind the plug when it tore away from the plane earlier this month. Joan said that after the loud explosion and the ensuing roar, she looked at the row in front of her, which only heightened her fears.
“I was hugging my husband and my dog, you know, kind of head down, and then I looked up and I saw that the seats A and B were empty. There was only somebody in C,” she said. “And they had told us it was a full flight.”
Joan said a flight attendant stopped and asked the person in seat C if anyone had been sitting in the empty seats.
“Oh my god, the panic that struck everybody in that moment,” she said.
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Ultimately, no one was seriously injured in the incident, but Gilbert said he had to grab their dog’s carrier from under the empty seat in front of them to stop the dog from being sucked out of the plane.
Alaska Airlines and Boeing are facing a lawsuit from multiple passengers who claim they experienced "havoc, fear, trauma, [and] severe and extreme distress" during the blowout. The Marins said they don’t intend to sue.
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