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passengers described terror on board. >> there was a big boom, immediately exploding, in the rear of the plane. >> my focus at that moment was just breathe into the oxygen mask and trust that the flight crew will do everything they can to keep us safe. >> reporter: it happened behind the plane's left wing, where a hole was cut for an optional emergency exit. but alaska airlines didn't need it, so the door was plugged and sealed, leaving an ordinary window. investigators will look at whether that plug was properly bolted in place during manufacturing. meanwhile, the faa has grounded 171 max 9s in the u.s., forcing alaska and united airlines to cancel hundreds of flights. alaska and united fly the max 9 here in the united states. i just checked, at the moment today, we've got about 204 united cancellations. about 139 alaska cancellations. and these could continue through
air audible as pilots radioed in an emergency. >> alaska, declaring an emergency. we need to descend. >> investigators say the explosion contorted seats, removed headrests and threw phones from passengers hands to portland streets below. amazingly, nobody onboard was seated immediately next to the hole or seriously injured. >> you heard a big, loud bang to the left rear of row 20 and a whooshing sound. >> i just knew something bad was going on because the mask his come down, and i had never experienced that before. >> the plane, a new boeing 737 max 9. it made its first flight just this past october and had been used on alaska airlines on 150 trips. the federal aviation administration has temporarily grounded max 9s until alaska united airlines can make
tonight. >> reporter: new images tonight show the focus of the ntsb's investigation, the gaping hole where a sealed and plugged door hole blew out in a violent explosion, as the brand new alaska airlines plane was flying at 16,000 feet on its way from portland to ontario, california. the pilots wearing oxygen masks, forced to make an emergency landing. >> there was a big boom or a mini explosion in the rear of the plane. >> reporter: today passengers described a terrifying flight. >> moisture and fluid, almost like a cloud rushing from the front of the plane to the back of the plane, blew my hat back. folks in front of me, their hair was blown back. >> reporter: evan granger sitting several rows in front of the hole. >> i didn't want to look back to see what was happening. i knew something happened, and my focus in that moment was just
>> you heard a big loud bang from the left rear, and then a whooshing sound and then all of the oxygen masks deployed. we could see a two section window panel that blew out like the size of a refrigerator. >> and in section 26a and part of the seat was gone, and the back of the seat is gone. there's some clothing items in the area. >> reporter: so fred, we have one more news conference set for today, and tbd of when the is, when we were at the news conference 8:00 p.m. local time, the chair of the ntsb who you heard from right, there she was asked the question, should we, all of us flying so often be concerned about the greater fleet of max 9 aircraft, and she said, not at this time. the evidence that they have seen so far is not pointing from her
from portland to california — and the panel became detached not long after take off. the plane had reached an altitude of 16,000 feet — that'sjust under 5,000 metres — and the emergency breathing apparatus was deployed inside the cabin. the plane returned to the airport in portland around 35 minutes after taking off, and landed safely. the aircraft is a boeing 737 max 9. alaska airlines operates 65 of the planes — and has temporarily grounded its fleet of them, for inspection. the plane's manufacturer, boeing, says it is aware of the incident and is "working to gather more information." and america's national transportation safety board says it is investigating the incident. let's hear now from a passenger who was on board the alaska airlines flight, evan smith, who spoke to reporters after landing back at the airport in portland. who spoke to reporters after landing wide as a refrigerator and about as high as two thirds of a refrigerator in height. there was a very loud bang towards the left rear of the plane and a whoosh noise,
and crew on board landed safely in portland. let's hear now from a passenger who was on board the alaska airlines flight — evan smith — who spoke to reporters after landing back at the airport in portland. wide as a refrigerator and about as high as two thirds of a refrigerator in height. there was a very loud bang towards the left rear of the plane and a whooshing noise, and all the air masks dropped. just a situation i have no control over, and just wait and see what happens. they said there was a kid in that row whose shirt was sucked off him and out of the plane, and his mother was holding on to him to make sure he didn't go with it. it says something that those planes can take that kind of hit and still go ahead and land safely. we can show you now pictures of portland international airport — shortly after the plane landed. these are alaska airlines planes parked on the tarmac. all of their 737 max 9 aircraft
and landed safely. the aircraft is a boeing 737 max 9. alaska airlines operates 65 of the planes — and has temporarily grounded its fleet of them, for inspection. the plane's manufacturer, boeing, says it is aware of the incident and is "working to gather more information." and america's national transportation safety board says it is investigating the incident. let's hear now from a passenger who was on board the alaska airlines flight, evan smith, who spoke to reporters after landing back at the airport in portland. wide as a refrigerator and about as high as two thirds of a refrigerator in height. there was a very loud bang towards the left rear of the plane and a whoosh noise, and all the air masks dropped. just a situation i have no control over, and just wait and see what happens. they said there was a kid in that row whose shirt was sucked off him and out of the plane, and his mother was holding on to him to make sure he didn't go with it. it says something that those planes
thejet, with nearly a00 people on board, continues down the runway with flames now belching from the rear of the aircraft. more extraordinary footage taken by a passenger inside the plane shows just how quickly the cabin filled with acrid smoke. but then what experts are describing as little short of miraculous. with frames rapidly engulfing the plane's fuselage, dozens of passengers can be seen sliding down escape chutes and running for their lives. all 379 passengers and crew on board escaped, some with minor injuries. tragically, the same is not true of the six crew on board the coastguard plane. five are dead, the pilot survived, but with serious injuries. dozens of fire trucks poured foam and water onto the plane, but it continued to burn for hours. the question now is, how did this happen? how did two aircraft end up
0ur asia correspondent rupert wingfield—hayes reports. this extraordinary footage caught on haneda airport's cctv system system shows the moment a japan airlines a350 struck a japanese coastguard plane that was, for some reason, on the same runway. thejet, with nearly 400 people on board, continues down the runway with flames now belching from the rear of the aircraft. more extraordinary footage taken by a passenger shows just how quickly the cabin filled with acrid smoke. but then what experts are describing as little short of miraculous. with frames rapidly engulfing the plane's fuselage, dozens of passengers can be seen sliding down escape chutes and running for their lives. all 379 passengers and crew on board escaped, some with minor injuries. tragically, the same is not true of the six crew on board the coastguard plane.
intact on the japan airlines flight. which indicates that perhaps what you were saying before that the flames themselves came from the fuel on the coast guard vessel, and then you could see the people sitting on the aircraft going down the runway, and then this, this is the moment before the passengers get up to evacuate, and you can see the smoke already there, and one thing that you do notice as you point out, nobody is going to the overhead bin to get their bags which is the problem or can be the problem talking about evacuations. we do believe that all of the evacuations happen toward the front of the plane, and the passengers are reporting that the exits and the rear were not working. is that a concern or something that can happen because of the collision in the fire. >> i think that is something that happened because of the collision and the fire and then in other videos that other people have posted, it is the back of the plane that everyone is off that is so involved that the tail fell off in the fire.