Alaska Airlines flight found with cargo door ajar upon landing in Portland

Just days before an Alaska Airlines flight made an emergency landing in Portland due to strong fumes in the cabin, another one of the airline’s planes was found with its cargo door ajar upon landing at PDX.

Airline workers found the cargo door unsealed on Alaska Flight 1437 after it made its scheduled landing last Friday, the airline said in a statement. The flight was arriving from Los Cabos, Mexico. KOIN 6 first reported the door issue.

The airline said the flight crew received no warnings that the door opened during the flight.

“All indications point to the door partially opening only after landing,” the airline said in a statement.

The aircraft was inspected and a spring was replaced in the door handle, the airline said. It was cleared to fly shortly after.

On Wednesday, a Phoenix-bound Alaska flight returned to Portland International Airport shortly after takeoff after people in the plane reported strong fumes. The cause of the disturbance is under investigation.

The airline has been beleaguered with flight issues on its Boeing planes in recent months. In January, a piece of an airplane’s fuselage tore off mid-flight, terrifying passengers and prompting safety inspections for hundreds of Boeing aircraft. No one was seriously hurt in the incident.

Attorneys representing 62 passengers filed suit against the airline and Boeing on Feb. 20 in Multnomah County Circuit Court. It is the third lawsuit related to the plane malfunction and seeks $1 billion in personal and punitive damages.