The pilot of the Boeing jet whose door plug blew out mid-flight last year is now suing the jet builder for $10 million.
Brandon Fisher, the Alaska Airlines pilot who was flying the Boeing 737 Max when the January 5, 2024 incident took place, filed a complaint in the Multnomah County, Oregon, courts.
During the flight, a door plug near the airplane’s 26th row blew off, causing the plane to experience rapid and intense depressurization and leaving a 2-by-4 foot hole in the side of the aircraft. .
Fisher and his co-pilot, Emily Wiprud, managed to get the airplane safely back to the Portland International Airport without anyone dying or suffering serious physical injury.
In his lawsuit, Fisher accuses Boeing of trying to throw him and his first officer under the bus and blame them for the incident rather than take responsibility for the frightening situation.
In an earlier lawsuit stemming from the incident, Boeing’s lawyers argued that the company was not responsible for the incident as the 737 Max had been “improperly maintained or misused by persons and/or entities other than Boeing.”
Fisher says in his complaint that the company was trying to “paint him as the scapegoat for Boeing’s numerous failures.”
“Instead of praising Captain Fisher’s bravery, Boeing inexplicably impugned the reputations of the pilots who had prevented Boeing from having to explain to the families of all passengers and crew why its defective aircraft had resulted in the loss of their loved ones. Boeing’s comments dramatically exacerbated the life-changing impacts that this incident caused Captain Fisher,” the filing says.
Fisher says that, due to Boeing pointing the finger at him, he has been scrutinized for his part in the incident and has been named as a defendant in two lawsuits connected to the flight.
His complaint alleges that Boeing employees forgot to reattach the bolts that secured the door panel into its spot on the airplane.
The National Transportation Safety Board investigated the incident and found that Boeing was at fault and that the company had failed to ensure the plug was properly installed. The complaints found in the lawsuit are largely in-line with the NTSB’s findings.
The Independent has requested comment from Boeing.
Fisher says in his lawsuit that the entire experience caused him emotional distress and has worsened his quality of life.
He isn’t the only one to sue Boeing over the incident.
Three passengers from Flight 1282 sued Boeing and Alaska Airlines, asking the companies for a collective $1 billion last year, but settled out of court earlier in July, according to KPTV.
