(NewsNation) — A passenger who was on board an Alaska Airlines flight when a piece of the fuselage blew out described it as a “surreal” experience.
Vicki Kreps was sitting with her two grandchildren seven rows away from the door plug that came off the Boeing 737 Max 9 plane shortly after takeoff from Portland, Oregon.
She said Monday on “Elizabeth Vargas Reports” it felt like “force against my body, more like I would describe hearing a boom and somebody putting the brakes on the plane.”
It took her several minutes to realize what that “boom” was.
“A big gust of air pushed me back into the seat, and the oxygen masks fell. I followed instructions and got the masks on and took care of my grandkids,” Kreps said. “It wasn’t until I knew my left side was good, and then there was a mist in the air. I was afraid it was smoke, and so I lowered my mask slightly to smell and heightened my awareness around me and looked over my left shoulder, and that’s when I saw the gaping hole in the plane.”
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the incident and said Sunday night a warning light that could have indicated a pressurization problem went off on three different flights before the blowout.
In response, Alaska Airlines restricted the aircraft from long flights over water, specifically to Hawaii, so the plane “could return very quickly to an airport” if the warning light reappeared, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said.
She cautioned the pressurization light might be unrelated to Friday’s incident.
The Federal Aviation Administrated grounded the 737 Max 9s operated by Alaska and United Airlines and has ordered inspections focused on so-called “door plugs.” They are used to seal an area set aside for extra emergency doors that are not required on United and Alaska Max 9s.
United said Monday it found loose bolts and other “installation issues” on a part of some Max 9 jets that were inspected after the midflight blowout on the Alaska Airlines jet.
“It’s kind of a surreal feeling to be involved” in the blowout, Kreps said. “My thought was I guess if it was gonna kill me, it would have already done so. Like I would have been sucked out already, I would have lost consciousness. I thought I was over the big hurdle.”
From where she was sitting, Kreps said it was “eerily calm” as people sat with their oxygen masks and listened to flight attendants’ instructions while the plane returned to the airport for an emergency landing.
Nobody was seriously hurt in the incident that occurred at around 16,000 feet below cruising altitude.
Kreps has one important message for passengers on future flights that likely saved lives in this case: “Wear that seat belt.”
NewsNation digital producer Devan Markham and The Associated Press contributed to this report.