A Portland school teacher discovered the door plug that flew off an Alaskan Airlines plane in mid-flight on his property, according to federal investigators on Sunday.
The National Transportation Safety Board announced the critical discovery two days after the Boeing 737 MAX 9 was forced to make an emergency landing after the missing piece caused a gaping hole in the airplane, jeopardizing the safety of the more than 170 passengers aboard.
“We are really pleased that Bob found this,” said NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy, who would only divulge the educator’s last name.
“We’re gonna go pick that up and make sure that we begin analyzing it,” she said at a press briefing just moments after learning it was located.
More information concerning the plug was not given, including the location of the missing item. It was also unclear whether it was still intact, according to Homendy.
The door “plug” was one of several artifacts discovered by locals throughout Oregon. Two cell phones were sucked off the plane when the gaping hole caused the aircraft to rapidly depressurize at about 16,000 feet were also picked up by people on the ground.
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The flight, which took off from Portland International Airport with 171 passengers and six crew members aboard, was bound for Ontario, California.
Officials claimed the pilots were compelled to return to the Portland airport quickly after the hole pulled items and chair headrests out of the plane and breathing masks dropped for panicked passengers.
“It was described as chaos, very loud between the air and everything going on around them and it was very violent when the rapid decompression and the door was expelled out of the plane,” Homendy said.
NTSB praised crew for skillfully managing mid-flight incident, ensuring safety
The NTSB chair congratulated the flight crew for handling the difficult situation so skillfully and ensuring the safety of everyone aboard the damaged jet.
Earlier Sunday, the NTSB urged households and business owners to check any doorbell footage they may have, seek in their backyards, and climb onto their rooftops in search of the door plug and other objects from the Boeing 737. Officials stated that inspecting it would help them understand why it failed.
Before Bob’s discovery, Homendy quipped over the weekend, “If it’s sitting in somebody’s backyard, I would like to see it,” according to CNN.
She added on Sunday that she would personally thank Bob for sending images of the door stopper to the NTSB.
It is likely to analyze the plug as part of its investigation into the terrifying incident.
Homendy stated that she was unable to commit to releasing the photos of the blown-off part right away because it is evidence.