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‘Extremely loud;’ Woman details moments after a door plug blew off a Boeing 737 airplane

Alaska Airlines says it has canceled all flights on the Boeing 737 Max 9′s through Saturday after a door plug blew off one of the jetliners midair last week.

Vicki Kreps was on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 when the door plug on the 737 Max 9 blew off as the aircraft ascended to 16,000 feet.

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“It was extremely loud, it was the loudest experience I’ve ever had. You know where hearing was a problem,” Vicki Kreps said. “There was a little, what I want to describe was somebody putting on the brakes. There was a little pitch forward in my seat. And then a big gush of wind that pushed me back against my seat.”

Kreps was flying with her two grandchildren, 7-year-old Brady and 5-year-old Brinley when the nightmare scenario occurred.

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“The oxygen masks came down, fell at that time, and the pilot came on and said we’ve experienced decompression of the cabin,” Kreps said. “Brady said so, they want us to put these on? And I said Yep. So he grabbed his. He put his own on. I put mine on and I assisted Brinley.”

Kreps said the crew immediately began the descent. She was seated in row 19 with her grandchildren, and the blowout happened behind them on row 26. She said everyone near her was ‘eerily calm.’

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“One of the lap infants on the plane was on my row, and Mom was sort of wrangling with him to keep the mask on. And at some point, I placed my hand on her shoulder and then we talked a little bit. Just to make sure she didn’t feel alone traveling with three kids by herself,” Kreps said.

Kreps said that once they landed, things felt normal, but their ears were burning because of the blowout and the rapid descent.

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