The pilot who safely landed a Boeing 737 after it lost its door shortly after takeoff is suing Boeing, alleging the company tried to pin the blame for the incident on him.
The lawsuit was filed on the 30th of December in Multnomah County Circuit Court against Boeing, seeking $10,000,000 for negligence, strict products liability, breach of warranty, emotional distress and defamation. The pilot in command, Captain Brandon Fisher, filed the lawsuit against Boeing for allegedly blaming him and First Officer Emily Wiprud for making mistakes that contributed to the incident.
The lawsuit stems from the evening of the 5th of January 2024, when Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 made an emergency landing 30 minutes after taking off from Portland International Airport. The emergency landing happened after a door plug separated from the fuselage at 16,000 feet in the air. All passengers survived, but several suffered minor injuries.
“The pilot in command, Captain Brandon Fisher … and his first officer, Emily Wiprud … landed the aircraft safely despite harrowing circumstances in the cockpit. They should have been hailed as heroes. Instead, The Boeing Company attempted to shift blame, intentionally and falsely claiming that Captain Fisher and First Officer Wiprud made mistakes that contributed to the incident,” the lawsuit claims.
“Unbeknownst to Captain Brandon Fisher, who was the pilot in command, or any of the passengers onboard, the defendants’ negligence and systemic failures resulted in the creation of an unsafe aircraft not fit for flight, culminating in the horrific decompression event shortly after takeoff,” the lawsuit adds.
“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,” the lawsuit claims. “Boeing’s comments dramatically exacerbated the life-changing impacts that this incident caused Captain Fisher.”
‘Boeing’s scapegoating’
The lawsuit also points to other “explosive decompression events in the past,” and says Boeing was aware of these events before the 2024 door plug incident.
“Boeing is no stranger to its aircraft experiencing explosive decompression events. Between 1981 and 2018, at least seven explosive decompression events occurred that involved Boeing aircraft,” the lawsuit claims.
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