The networks were buzzing with cellphone video of the loss of the left engine cowling doors on an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-900ER departing Seattle earlier this week. The incident was definitely attention getting as the doors flapped in the slipstream before shredding after touchdown on the abbreviated return to Sea-Tac. There were no injuries, but hunks of aluminum rattled the fuselage as the plane rolled out so there are some dings in the airframe at a minimum.
The aircraft took off for San Diego just after 7 a.m. on Monday and almost immediately the crew felt vibrations and passengers on the left side watched as the thin aluminum peeled up and back from the engines. The plane did a 40-minute loop over Puget Sound before the eventful but safe landing. The 176 passengers were loaded on another 737-900ER for the trip to Southern California.
