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Alaska Airlines flight AS1437 from Los Cabos International Airport (SJD) to Portland International Airport (PDX) landed safely on March 1st, but the cargo door was ajar and there were pets in the hold. It’s unknown how long the Boeing 737 cargo door was open, but it’s troubling given the animals on board.
I don’t know how I missed this story, but I’m happy to report that the pets survived the ordeal. KOIN 6 News shared a statement from Alaska Airlines. It reads:
Upon landing at PDX on March 1, Alaska Airlines flight 1437 was discovered to have the forward cargo door unsealed. There was no indication to the crew that the door was unsealed during flight and all indications point to the door partially opening after landing. Our maintenance teams inspected the aircraft, replaced a spring in the door, tested the door and reentered it into service.”
It’s troubling that this door was partially open and that the crew were given no indication that there was an issue. Thankfully, it seems like everyone on the aircraft (human and animal) made it safely to Portland.
Alaska and Boeing have gotten tons of negative press this year after the incident with a door plug on Alaska Airlines flight AS1282 (more here). That was obviously a much more dramatic scene (and one that has caused multiple investigations around Boeing), but this is not a good look either.
Anthony’s Take: I’ve said this repeatedly and I’ll say it again. Air travel is safe and I am not hesitating to fly Boeing or Airbus aircraft with any major airline. That said, there needs to be more investigations into what happened at Boeing and around maintenance in general to ensure these incidents remain minimal.
(Image Credits: KOIN 6 News.)
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