@ai6yr So AS1282 reached peak altitude over Lake Oswego and then started descending. That means the panel and door that blew off are somewhere in Tigard.
@merz@ai6yr My cousin is in Lake Oswego, went over to Raleigh Hills/Beaverton this morning & said she saw some low flying aircraft & possibly some drones around Tigard/Metzger area. Maybe they are searching.
Weird that the aircraft had entered service with Alaska Airlines on Oct 31st 2023.
IDK why Alaska would configure their aircraft like this, but... "The area of the panel blown out features an emergency exit for high density configuration, however, is not used as emergency exit by Alaska Airlines, the exit door was covered by a panel inside the cabin to prevent access to the release mechanism."
Airbus has even a name for it. “Cabin Flex” is an Airbus concept where you can have (Type III) overwing exits or the (Type C) emergency exit door aft of the wing plugged depending on total number of seats and customer airline ideas.
Not only is it easier for the manufacturer to consistently build the airframe with the same fuselage openings, it may also increase the resale value of the airplane, should the next owner have a different configuration in mind. It does however add some weight.
@MHowell@Nshrubs@merz@ai6yr
It is apparently pretty standard: You only need that emergency exit if you configure your planes for max-sardine-capacity. So Boeing offers the factory option of plugging those exits. So it wasn't Alaska "plugging", it was Alaska requesting that Boeing do the plugging.
@ncweaver@Nshrubs@merz@ai6yr Airframe repurposing (from passenger to cargo) is something a friend/former co-worker is doing now, where sometimes they modify airframe for a cargo door.
Interesting to hear from them how many passenger compartment systems have to be disabled so pilots don't get cockpit warnings, for instance, for PA system BIT failure..
@ai6yr idk, I once landed in a plane with an engine that caught fire, but since I was the one sitting over it who could see it and I wasn't screaming, and only told my husband sitting next to me, I guess nobody was screaming then either. I didn't want to upset our kids. ;^)
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