Terrified Alaska passenger reveals panicked text messages she sent her parents ... trends now
A terrified passenger on board a near-catastrophic Alaska Airlines flight revealed the moment she text her family 'I don't want to die' after a window on the jet blew out.
Emma Vu took to TikTok after surviving the horror Alaska Airlines flight 1282 on Friday evening, which was bound from Portland to California before a cabin window blasted into the sky at 16,000 feet.
'In the moment I was so scared,' Vu said, as she showed her panic-stricken texts to her family reading: 'The masks r down; I am so scared right now; Please pray for me; Please I don't want to die.'
Thankfully no injuries were reported on the plane, although some passengers lost their phones and belongings as the depressurization of the cabin forced air to rush in.
Investigations have been launched by the National Transportation Safety Board, Alaska Airlines and Boeing, with the Boeing 737-9 MAX jet only going into service in November 2023.
Passenger Emma Vu said she 'felt the entire plane drop' around 20 minutes into the horror Alaska Airlines flight 1282 on Friday evening, which was bound from Portland to California before a cabin window blasted into the sky at 16,000 feet
Alaska flight 1282 left Portland just after 5pm local time on Friday when a window blew out at 16,000 feet, ripping a child's shirt off
Vu revealed her final texts to her family pleading 'I don't want to die', and showed a selfie she took in the moment which she feared could be her last
Shocking footage from inside the plane saw fliers sat in eerie silence shortly after the window exploded, as they looked out of a gaping hole of the fuselage with the twinkling lights of Portland below.
Vu said she was asleep when the devastating safety failure erupted out of the blue, when she 'felt the entire plane drop.'
'The masks dropped, and people are screaming,' she continued, next to a tearful selfie she took in the moment that she feared could be her last.
'I am so grateful for the ladies sat next to me... they were so sweet at calming me down, and the flight attendants were giving oxygen tanks to those who needed it more,' she said.
'But I was freaking out because my bag wouldn't inflate - and that's literally what they tell you in the safety thing, like don't worry you're still getting air flow... when you're in fight or flight you're not thinking about that.'
'It was just so scary, no one knew what was happening, the pilot came on to tell everyone to put your mask on before you help others - literally word for word what they tell you in the safety training.'
'A toddler's shirt flew off, and their phone flew out the window,' she added. 'It was just so surreal.'
In audio from inside the cockpit, the pilot could be heard radioing for emergency help, saying: 'Portland approach, Alaska 1282 emergency! Aircraft is now leveling 12,000 in a left turn heading three four zero.
'We need a divert. We've declared an emergency. We are depressurized. We have 177 passengers on board and a seal is...18,900' the pilot can be heard explaining.
Another passenger, 20-year-old Elizabeth, told Oregon Live that the moment the window blew out 'sounded like your ears were popping like normally on a plane, but 10 times louder. I couldn't believe it was real.'
'We were all calm,' she said of her fellow passenger, 'but I did feel like I was about to cry, because who knows this could be my last few moments.'
Another passenger, Kyle Rinker, 29, said the plane became 'deathly silent. Nobody made a noise.'
Reports suggest that 26A, the seat next to the blown-out window, was not occupied.
The passenger included a picture another flier took of the blown out window, which was reportedly designed as an emergency exit but was used as a regular cabin window
The Boeing 737-9 MAX rolled off the assembly line just two months ago, receiving its certification in November 2023, according to FAA record posted online
Reports suggest that fortunately 26A, the seat next to what appears to have been an emergency exit with a
