Alaska Airlines pilot who was globally hailed as a hero for safely landing a plane after… The door connection plate flew off Shortly after takeoff, he filed a lawsuit against Boeing because he believed the plane maker had wrongly tried to blame him and the rest of the crew for previous lawsuits.
The heads of the National Transportation Safety Board, the Federal Aviation Administration and even Boeing executives praised Captain Brandon Fisher for helping ensure that none of the 177 people on board were hurt. Flight 1282 They were killed when the explosion occurred in January 2024.
But Fisher’s lawyers say Boeing’s attempts to evade liability in previous lawsuits despite the findings of the NTSB investigation led to the pilot being sued by some passengers and caused him significant distress.
“Boeing’s lie also angered Captain Fisher, who was criticized for his actions rather than praised,” Fisher’s attorneys, William Walsh and Richard Mumalo, wrote in the lawsuit filed in an Oregon court. “Because he had flown Boeing planes his entire tenure with Alaska Airlines, Boeing’s attempts to shift blame on him seemed like a deeply personal betrayal by a company that claims to have the highest regard for pilots.”
Four flight attendants previously filed a lawsuit against Boeing over the incident last summer.
the NTSB investigation It emerged from the explosion that four bolts securing what is known as a door seal plate had been removed and never replaced during the repair process during the assembly of the Boeing 737 Max 9. Both Boeing and key supplier Spirit Aerosystems, which Boeing has since acquired, were involved.
The explosion occurred minutes after the flight took off from Portland, Oregon, creating a massive air vacuum. Seven passengers and a flight attendant were slightly injured, but the plane was able to land safely.
A piece of fuselage measuring 2 x 4 feet (61 cm x 122 cm) Cover an unused emergency exit Behind the left wing had exploded. There were only seven empty seats on the plane, including the two closest to the opening.
Boeing plant workers told NTSB investigators that they I felt pressure to work very quickly They were asked to perform jobs for which they were not qualified.
Fisher’s lawsuit describes how he and the first officer acted quickly after a loss of cabin pressure when the panel exploded to safely return the plane to Portland while reducing altitude and working with air traffic controllers to avoid any other planes in the area.
Boeing’s commercial aircraft unit president, Stan Deal, praised the Alaska Airlines crew for landing the plane safely in a memo to employees after the accident.
Boeing did not comment directly on this new lawsuit. But the company’s CEO, Kelly Ortberg, has made improving safety a top priority since he took the top job at Boeing in August 2024.
Federal Aviation Administration Boeing fined $3.1 million Safety violations were found by inspectors after the door stopper incident. But in October, the agency allowed Boeing to increase 737 MAX production to 42 planes per month because its inspectors were satisfied with measures the company had taken to improve safety.
Alaska Airlines also declined to comment on the lawsuit, but said the airline remains “grateful to our crew members for the courage and quick thinking they demonstrated aboard Flight 1282 in ensuring the safety of all on board.”