Portland teacher ‘Bob’ finds fallen Alaska Airlines plane part in backyard

The door plug that blew off of an Alaska Airlines flight Friday shortly after takeoff has been found, a top federal official said Sunday night.

The door plug was found in the backyard of a Portland schoolteacher identified only as “Bob,” National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said.

“Thank you, Bob,” Homendy said, adding that she was “very relieved.”

“Bob” took two photographs of the door plug and sent them to the email that the safety board disseminated to ask for tips, photos and videos connected to the accident. The door plug is critical for the agency’s investigation to understand precisely why the chunk of fuselage disconnected from the plane minutes after takeoff.

[Boeing jetliner that suffered inflight blowout was restricted amid concerns over warning light]

Two other people reported findings cellphones that had apparently fallen from the airplane, Homendy said, including one that fell in someone’s backyard and one that was found by the side of a road.

The federal agency has been on the ground in Portland for about 24 hours, with investigators interviewing crew members and examining the body of the plane where the door plug disconnected from the frame. Much work remains before the safety board can say what it believes happened, including inspecting materials under microscopes, interviewing more crew members and inspecting records.

[Now-found door ‘plug’ may hold vital clues to how a gaping hole blew open on jetliner]

Homendy declined to speculate Sunday as to what may have caused the door plug to fall from the airplane, nor would she point to specific mechanical components that may have failed.

The airplane was a newly manufactured Boeing 737-9, delivered to Alaska Airlines on Oct. 31. On three occasions a light indicating pressurization problems had turned on, most recently Jan. 4 — the day before the accident, Homendy said.

Although Alaska Airlines characterized the warning issue as “benign,” the airline decided to restrict the plane from flying over water, to Hawaii for example, Homendy said. Maintenance had been ordered to take care of the issue but it wasn’t done by the time of the accident. But whether that actually has any bearing on why the door plug came off is not at all clear.

“We don’t know that there was any correlation,” Homendy said.

The plane had 171 passengers, not including crew members, and 178 seats. Of the seven empty seats, two happened to be immediately next to the door plug. Officials reported no serious injuries, though they did find substantial damage to the interior of the airplane, particularly to several seats next to the door plug. Headrests were gone off of two seats and the seat-back was gone off of one.

On Saturday, the safety board announced that radar data showed the door appeared to have fallen near Southwest Barnes Road and Oregon 217 in the Cedar Hills neighborhood.

Homendy seemed excited after looking at the pictures that “Bob” sent the agency she leads. They were taken five to 10 feet away from the door plug, she said.

“We are really pleased that Bob found this,” Homendy said. “We’re going to go pick that up and make sure that we begin analyzing it.”