Alaska Airlines blowout: Passenger describes being on Flight 1282

A Californian man has described "holding on for dear life" as he sat on an Alaska Airlines flight inches away from a gaping hole which appeared when an unused door flew off mid-flight. Cuong Tran told the BBC his seat belt saved him as his phone, socks and shoes were ripped off by an uncontrolled decompression 16,000ft above Portland. He is among seven passengers to have filed a lawsuit against Boeing, Alaska Airlines and Spirit AeroSystems. The companies declined to comment. Images shared online - and later by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) - showed a wide hole in the side of the Boeing 737-9 Max aircraft, with oxygen masks dangling from the ceiling on 5 January. In a preliminary investigation US regulators found four critical bolts - meant to hold the so-called door plug in place - were missing from the flight which was bound for Ontario, California. None of the 177 passengers and crew on-board were killed but Tran, who was sitting next to his friend one row behind the section which blew out, suffered injuries including a laceration to his leg. Tran, 40, said it happened soon after take-off when he would usually be getting ready to doze off. "The captain said we had passed 10,000 feet. Then the hole blew out on us and I remember my body getting lifted up. Then my whole lower body got sucked down by the howling wind." Tran said the decompression lasted around 10 or 20 seconds and he described looking around at other passengers who could not believe what was happening. "It was probably the first time in my life I had a feeling of no control over everything. I was in disbelief over the whole situation," said Tran. Story has more.<br/>