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Frightened Alaska Air team feared travelers were lost in Jan. 5 mid-air panel blowout

Alaska Airlines flight attendants feared travelers had been sucked out of the airplane in the mayhem following the Jan. 5 midair panel blowout on a Boeing 737 MAX 9 jet, according to harrowing testament released by safety professionals on Tuesday. The remarks gathered from interviews with attendants who were not named were among countless pages of proof made public ahead of a twoday hearing that started earlier on Tuesday by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board about the incident. They supply remarkable accounts of the cabin team's. efforts to assist guests and interact with pilots when the. panel blew off the jet at 16,000 feet after removing from. Portland, Oregon.

I stated there is a hole in the aircraft, in the back of the. airplane and I'm sure we have actually lost travelers, said one flight. attendant with about twenty years of experience, after identifying the. hole in the aircraft and 5 empty seats.

The attendant was worried about an unaccompanied child. toward the airplane's back. All I might consider was that he was. sitting there and he was too small to reach the mask and was. most likely truly terrified.. The NTSB is evaluating 737 production and examinations and. oversight by the Federal Aviation Administration with a goal of. making recommendations to prevent a repeat in the future. The. occurrence has actually changed into a full-blown financial and. reputational crisis for producer Boeing.

Flight attendants who were not licensed to speak openly. right away after the accident explained a loud bang, whooshing. air and for one, twisted oxygen masks.

I think I had the ability to (blurt) out, 'I believe we have a hole. and we might've lost guests.' And after that it looked like I just. lost contact, I tried calling back, attempted speaking loudly into. the phone, I couldn't hear anything, said a 2nd flight. attendant, with nearly a years of experience.

Most likely the scariest thing was I didn't have exact. interaction with my flight deck and initially I didn't understand if. the decompression remained in the front, if we have pilots, and not. being able to completely communicate with the back, the flight. attendant said.

The flight attendants both described damage to the plane and. injured travelers, including one teen without a shirt on who. had a red face and neck. One chair was totally removed of. the leather cover, fabric stuffing, upholstery and head rest. tray table with the force of the decompression.

The second flight attendant stated eventually pilots notified. them that they were going to land, so I knew that we were going. to be fine..

(source: Reuters)