Alaska Airlines blowout passenger reveals terrifying moment his socks and shoes were ripped off and his body was 'lifted up in the howling wind' as he sues airline and Boeing along with seven others

One of the passengers aboard the Alaska Airlines plane has described the horrific moment a door blew off just inches from him mid-flight.

California resident Cuong Tran and six other passengers have filed a lawsuit against Boeing and the airline after the January 5 near-tragedy 16,000ft above Portland.

Tran was seated in row 27, behind the row where the hole appeared, and told the BBC his seatbelt saved him from being ejected from the aircraft by the uncontrolled decompression, which lasted about 10 or 20 seconds.

'The captain said we had passed 10,000 feet. Then the hole blew out on us and I remember my body getting lifted up. Then my whole lower body got sucked down by the howling wind,' he said.

While the seatbelt kept his body inside the aircraft, his shoes and socks did not suffer the same fate. 

California resident Cuong Tran and six other passengers have filed a lawsuit against Boeing and the airline after the near-tragedy 16,000ft above Portland

The above image shows how close Tran was to the panel that blew off mid-flight

On January 5, the door plug blew out on a flight above Oregon causing an emergency landing and a massive federal probe into airline safety

'That feeling of no control is pretty terrifying. The suction was so strong and I was hanging on for dear life,' he said. 'Both my shoes ended up getting sucked out - I had my shoe on pretty tight too.... My phone which was in my hand disappeared.'

Tran, whose phone was found in Oregon and returned to him intact and still working,  also appeared on Fox News on Thursday, recalling that it 'all happened so fast.'

'The door just suddenly took off and next thing I know my feet were getting pulled really hard through the airplane and I was just struggling the whole time to try and stay inside the airplane,' he said.

'It was so loud that I couldn't speak to my buddy who was sitting next to me.'

'Our clients — and likely every passenger on that flight — suffered unnecessary trauma due to the failure of Boeing, Spirit AeroSystems, and Alaska Airlines to ensure that the aircraft was in a safe and airworthy condition,' attorney Timothy A. Loranger said.

The group are seeking punitive damages as well as compensation and damages due to negligence and failing to protect passengers.

On Saturday, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Department of Justice had reopened its criminal investigation into the incident.

'In an event like this, it's normal for the DOJ to be conducting an investigation,' Alaska Airlines said in a prepared statement. 'We are fully cooperating and do not believe we are a target of the investigation.'

The door plug was later found in the yard of an Oregon teacher

On Saturday, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Department of Justice had reopened its criminal investigation into the incident

The Journal reported that the investigation would assist the Department's review of whether Boeing complied with a previous settlement that resolved a federal investigation into the safety of its 737 Max aircraft following two deadly crashes in 2018 and 2019.

In 2021, Boeing had agreed to pay $2.5 billion, including a $244 million fine, to settle an investigation into the crashes of flights operated by Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines.

The company also blamed two employees for deceiving regulators about flaws in the flight-control system.

Boeing has acknowledged in a letter to Congress that it cannot find records for work done on the door panel of the Alaska Airlines plane.

'We have looked extensively and have not found any such documentation,' Ziad Ojakli, Boeing executive vice president and chief government lobbyist, wrote to Sen. Maria Cantwell last week.

The company said its 'working hypothesis' was that the records about the panel's removal and reinstallation on the 737 MAX final assembly line in Renton, Washington, were never created, even though Boeing's systems required it.

Boeing whistleblower John Barnett claimed the aviation giant had fired its quality control inspectors and was relying on mechanics shortly before he was found dead 

Last week, roughly 50 people were treated by first responders after a Boeing 787 Dreamliner flying from Australia to New Zealand experienced a 'technical event' that caused 'a strong movement' jolting passengers in their seats.

The company told airlines on Friday to start inspecting switches on pilots' seats after a report said an accidental cockpit seat movement caused the plunge.

Shortly before the incident over the Indian Ocean, Boeing said it believed the technical failure involving the door stemmed from something that occurred during production, where required documents detailed the removal of a key part that failed were never created.

Also on Friday, the company said it is 'committed to continuing to cooperate fully and transparently with the National Transportation Safety Board's investigation,' which, more than three months later, remains ongoing.

All of this comes after Boeing whistleblower John Barnett was found dead from in his truck in a hotel parking lot in South Carolina, seven years after retiring.

Barnett's death came during a whistleblower suit, where he alleged under-pressure workers were deliberately fitting sub-standard parts to aircraft on the assembly line.