The news of the interior door plug breaking off during a recent Alaska Airlines flight is terrifying, especially as more details emerge. An Oregon-based mom was sitting in the row in front of the plug, her teenage son's shoulder resting near the door. She is sharing the harrowing story of how she tried to keep her son safe as the cabin depressurized, fearing that he may be sucked out of the plane.
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She says she was "filled with adrenaline"
The mom, who is choosing to go by the name Faye, explained that the moment the plug flew off sounded like "a bomb exploding." She said that she then saw her son's seat twisting backward toward the hole, as the headrest flew off into the void.
"He and his seat were pulled back and toward the exterior of the plane in the direction of the hole," she said. "I reached over and grabbed his body and pulled him toward me over the armrest."
"I was probably as filled with adrenaline as I’ve ever been in my life," she said.
She was holding onto him to save his life
"I had my arms underneath his arm, kind of hooked under his shoulders and wrapped around his back," she explained. "I did not realize until after the flight that his clothing had been torn off of his upper body."
Faye explained that she had her face pressed into her son's shoulder to stabilize him. When the plane's oxygen masks dropped, the woman in the aisle seat put hers on first, before helping Faye and her son put theirs on. The woman then grabbed onto Faye as she continued to hold onto her son.
"I was just holding him and saying repeatedly, ‘It’s OK. It’s OK. It’s OK, buddy. It’s OK. It’s OK.’"
She knew they had to move
As the air stopped rushing out, Faye knew that she had to move her son from the seat. "I realized the pressure is now no longer such that we are risking getting pulled out by getting out of our seats."
She took off her mask, telling the woman seated next to her "on the count of three, I’m going to unbuckle him. We’re going to pull him out." As she did, she pressed the call button and a flight attendant appeared.
"I saw the shock on her face," Faye shared. "I remember thinking she didn’t know there was a hole in this plane" until the moment she saw it. The flight attendant got the boy a seat on the other side of the plane several rows up. Faye and her seatmate were seated several rows ahead of him.
She didn't panic until they were in new seats
"When the plug blew out, I was in go mode. Of course I was terrified. But I’m a mother. And that terror doesn’t occur to you when you’re looking at your child next to a hole in a plane. … It’s about, ‘I gotta get my kid out of here immediately,’" she said. "The terror set in when I was reseated."
She also noted that the people in the front of the plane had no idea that there was a hole in the plane until she told them. She then feared that the plane could possibly break apart.
"I am not a religious person," she confessed. "I prayed for the people in that plane. I don’t know that I’ve ever prayed in my life. But I did."
She is angry at Alaska Airlines
The plane landed safely, and Faye and her son were able to gather their belongings. They were looked at by medics, but they didn't suffer any major injuries.
Faye revealed that she had no intention of sharing her story, but then she heard the initial response from Alaska Airlines regarding the incident. She had friends who encouraged her to speak up about what happened to her and her son.
"I’m very concerned that Alaska chose to forego maintenance on it and put that plane back in the sky," she said. "Maybe there’s nothing to it. I don’t know. But if in fact that’s the case, I want people to know. People have got to know whether they can trust Alaska Airlines."
