Warning light reported on flights before blowout on jetliner, official says

A warning light that could have indicated a pressurization problem on a Boeing jetliner went off during three earlier flights before it lost a piece of its fuselage Friday over Oregon, prompting it to make an emergency landing, a top official said late Sunday.

Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), said at a press conference that Alaska Airlines restricted the jet from traveling to Hawaii due to the warning light. She added that it was restricted from completing long flights over water so it “could return very quickly to an airport” if the light turned on.

Homendy said the warning light lit up Dec. 7, 2023, and twice early this year, on Jan. 3 and Jan. 4 — one day before the door plug blew off the plane midflight. She also warned that the warning lights may be unrelated to the door plug.

The Boeing 737 Max 9 has a “plug” that covers an unused emergency exit. When it blew off after takeoff Friday, it left a gaping hole in the side of the plane, sucking out cellphones and other loose items.

The NTSB also said Sunday night that the missing door plug was recovered in the backyard of a Portland school teacher who identified himself as “Bob,” The Associated Press noted.

Homendy has previously said the part was a “key missing component” of the investigation and had urged members of the public to help look for it.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered the grounding of all Boeing 737 Max 9 jets as the NTSB investigates.

Homendy noted that investigators will not be able to hear what was going on in the cockpit during the incident because the voice recorder was overwritten. The U.S. only requires aircrafts to record two hours of data. If it’s not recovered immediately, then the old data is erased and overwritten.

She also detailed the scene on the plane after the door plug blew out, including how the force of wind slammed a bathroom door shut and pulled insulation from the interior. She noted there were three infants being held in the laps of caregivers on the plane and urged parents to purchase a seat for their infant.