Alaska Airlines pilot: ‘I was in shock’
CNN
Emily Wiprud, the first officer piloting Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 on January 5, says she initially thought people had been killed when the plane’s door plug blew off shortly after takeoff, according to an interview with CBS News Wednesday.
Emily Wiprud, the first officer piloting Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 on January 5, says she initially thought people had been killed when the plane’s door plug blew off shortly after takeoff, according to an interview with CBS News Wednesday. “I opened the flight deck door. And I saw quiet. Hundreds of eyes staring right back at me. And I looked at my flight attendants and I said, ‘Are you okay?’ And in that response, I heard: ‘hole,’ ‘four, five empty seats’ and ‘injuries.’” Wiprud said she thought people were blown out of the plane. But the flight crew was quickly able to determine that all passengers and crew were accounted for. “I remember it not taking very long for us to confirm we had 177 souls on board,” Wiprud said. “I was so thankful. I was in shock.” A door plug, part of the fuselage that takes the place of an emergency exit door on planes with certain seating configurations, had blown off, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the aircraft. Federal investigations would later determine that Boeing delivered the 737 Max plane to Alaska Airlines without four bolts that were designed to hold the door plug in place. Wiprud said from the flight deck she knew something terrible had happened, but she didn’t immediately know that the door plug had blown off.