The emergency door (plug door) of the Boeing B-737 MAX 9 (registration N704AL) plane of the US Alaska Airlines (flight AS1282) which detached in flight, immediately after take-off from Portland international airport, in the United States, when the aircraft had reached 16,000 feet altitude, was found. No injuries caused by the aircraft component falling to the ground were reported.

"I'm excited to announce that we've found the hatch. We're going to get it and make sure we start the analysis", Jennifer Homendy, said the president of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in a press conference. The component was reported by a teacher, who found it in his garden. The man photographed it and reported it to the federal agency.

Investigators are looking into why the tailgate came loose. Due to the "explosive decompression" the cockpit door also opened, from which various objects flew out. According to NTSB reports, a flight attendant made three attempts to close the cockpit door. Furthermore, the two seats in row 26, the closest to the "plug door", were missing headrests and the backrest of one had been torn off. In all, damage was found along 12 rows of seats on the plane.

On the same topic, see also the article published by AVIONEWS.