Boeing’s mid-flight blowout a big problem for company

BBC Online :
The incident that befell Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 on Friday would have been terrifying for passengers, but ultimately no-one was seriously hurt and the aircraft landed safely.
However, the picture could have been very different if the failure had happened further into the flight.
The incident happened minutes after take-off from Portland International Airport while the aircraft – a Boeing 737 Max 9 plane – was still climbing.
An unused emergency exit door blew out, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the fuselage.
The plane suffered a rapid loss of cabin pressure, as air rushed out and the atmosphere within the plane equalised with the thinner air outside.
The impact of this was reduced by two key factors. First of all, the passengers would all have been wearing seatbelts at this stage in the flight, keeping them in their seats.
Secondly, data from aircraft monitoring sites show that the plane reached a maximum height of around 16,300ft before descending quickly.
The cruising height of a 737 Max is around 38,000ft. At this level, the difference between the pressure inside the aircraft and the atmosphere outside is much greater. Had the door blown out here, the sudden rush of air would have been much more violent, and potentially lethal, especially if passengers were not wearing seatbelts.