Boeing boss thanks Alaska Airlines pilot for landing ‘in scary circumstances’ after blowout

The boss of Boeing has thanked the pilots and crew of the Alaska Airlines plane for landing safely after the aircraft suffered a blowout in mid-air.

No one was injured when an unused cabin door broke away on the flight from Portland, Oregon, on Friday 5 January, shortly after take-off.

“Huge thanks and compliments to the Alaska Airlines team. Pilots and crew who got that aeroplane back on the ground at a very tumultuous moment, in very scary circumstances,” Boeing’s president and chief executive Dave Calhoun said.

“They train their lives to do that, but you don’t know until you know. I hope most never know.”

Calhoun also admitted Boeing was at fault for the blowout during his press conference.