Lawsuit alleges Alaska Airlines at fault for blowout after deeming plane safe to fly

Alaska Airlines blowout lawsuit overview: 

• Who: Ernest Talley, Gladys Talley, Hans Meier and Sarah Mallow filed a lawsuit against The Boeing Company and Alaska Airlines. 
• Why: The Talley’s, Meier and Mallow claim negligence on behalf of Alaska Airlines and Boeing led to an in-flight blowout of a door plug during an Alaska Airlines flight on Jan. 5. 
• Where: The lawsuit was filed in King County Superior Court in Washington State.

A group of Alaska Airlines passengers have filed a lawsuit against the airline following the in-air blowout of a door plug during a Jan. 5 flight out of Portland, Oregon. 

The lawsuit, filed by plaintiffs Ernest Talley, Gladys Talley, Hans Meier and Sarah Mallow, claims passengers on the flight suffered intense fear, distress, anxiety, trauma, physical pain and other injuries in the aftermath of the Alaska Airlines blowout. 

“Terror continued on the plane for several minutes as the passengers did not know if the plane could continue to fly while depressurized with a gaping hole in the fuselage. Plaintiffs and other passengers reasonably feared death,” the Alaska Airlines class action states. 

The passengers claim the pilots of the Boeing 737 MAX 9 operating the Alaska Airlines flight had reported to the United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on three occasions prior to the Jan. 5 flight that the pressurization warning lights on the aircraft had come on.

Despite allegedly relaying the warnings, Alaska Airlines declined to ground the aircraft, deciding only instead that flying the plane would be unsafe to fly over the ocean, according to the NTSB, the Alaska Airlines lawsuit alleges. 

FAA has grounded all Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircrafts in the wake of door blowout on Alaska Airlines flight

The Boeing Company — which manufactured the subject plane — is also named in the lawsuit, with the passengers pointing to other recent issues with Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, including two crashes that caused mass casualties.

In 2018, a 737 MAX 8 flying out of Jakarta, Indonesia, crashed 13 minutes after takeoff, killing all 189 people on board. The next year, all 157 people aboard a 737 MAX 8 departing Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, died when that plane crashed six minutes after takeoff.

“Since at least the first Boeing 737 Max 8 crash, Boeing has been on notice of design problems, quality control issues, and allegations the company puts profits ahead of safety,” the Alaska Airlines lawsuit states. 

The passengers note the Federal Aviation Administration has launched a “formal investigation” into Boeing’s practices in the aftermath of the Alaska Airlines blowout, and has now grounded all MAX 9 aircraft “until further notice.” 

Alaska Airlines and Boeing are both accused of negligence, with the passengers also bringing claims under strict product liability against the latter. The plaintiffs are demanding a jury trial and requesting an award of damages, with the exact nature and extent to be proven during litigation.

The Alaska Airlines lawsuit is not the only one to be filed in connection with the blowout incident. Other passengers on the flight sued Boeing earlier this month, arguing the manufacturer is responsible for physical and emotional injuries they suffered as a result of the incident.

Were you injured by the Alaska Airlines flight incident? Let us know in the comments.

The plaintiffs are represented by Mark Lindquist of Mark Lindquist Law.

The Alaska Airlines blowout lawsuit is Talley, et al. v. The Boeing Company, et al., Case No. 24-2-00985-0, in King County Superior Court. 

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