3 passengers suing Boeing, Alaska Airlines for $1B over midair door panel blowout

A group of passengers on the Alaska Airlines flight that was grounded after a midair door blowout in January have filed a lawsuit against Boeing and the airline, accusing the companies of negligence as Boeing investigates manufacturing defects in its 737 Max 9 aircraft.

The suit, filed Feb. 20 in Oregon, adds to legal trouble for both companies from the incident.

Boeing already faces two lawsuits, one from shareholders over “serious safety lapses,” and a second class action suit from passengers on the flight. Similarly, Alaska Airlines also faces two lawsuits from flight passengers.

Attorney Jonathan Johnson said the Oregon suit seeks to “hold Boeing accountable for its negligence which had caused extreme panic, fear, and post-traumatic stress.”

“This experience jeopardized the lives of the 174 passengers and 6 crew members that were on board,” he said in a statement.

The suit demands $1 billion in damages for the three plaintiffs and other passengers on the aircraft. 

The National Transportation Safety Board found that the door bolts in the aircraft were missing due to a manufacturing error, leading the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to ground all Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft for inspection.

The planes have returned to the air, with Boeing leadership vowing a shake-up in its quality control and manufacturing processes. Last week, an FAA panel report said that the safety culture at Boeing was “inadequate and confusing.”

Boeing declined to comment on the suit. The Hill has reached out to Alaska Airlines for comment.