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   The Alaska Airlines pilot who has been universally praised as a hero for   
   safely landing a jet after a door plug panel flew off shortly after takeoff is   
   suing Boeing because he believes the plane maker wrongly tried to blame him   
   and the rest of the crew.   
       
   Captain Brandon Fisher was commended by the heads of the National   
   Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration and even   
   Boeing executives for helping ensure none of the 177 people aboard flight 1282   
   were killed when the blowout happened in January 2024.   
       
   But Fisher's lawyers say Boeing's attempts to deflect liability in past   
   lawsuits despite what the NTSB investigation found led to the pilot being sued   
   by some passengers and caused him great distress. Still, experts say it's   
   unusual for a pilot to sue like this in an incident where he wasn't seriously   
   hurt or killed. Four flight attendants previously sued Boeing over the   
   incident last summer.   
       
   Fisher's lawsuit says Boeing suggested it wasn't responsible because the plane   
   was "improperly maintained or misused" by others.   
       
   "It was clear Boeing's words were directed at Captain Fisher in attempt to   
   paint him as the scapegoat for Boeing's numerous failures," Fisher's lawyers,   
   William Walsh and Richard Mummolo, wrote in the lawsuit filed in an Oregon   
   court.   
       
   The NTSB investigation of the blowout found that four bolts securing what is   
   known as the door plug panel were removed and never replaced during a repair   
   as the Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft was being assembled. Boeing and key supplier   
   Spirit Aerosystems, which has since been acquired by Boeing, were both   
   implicated.   
       
   The bolts are hidden behind interior panels in the plane, so they are not   
   something that could have been easily checked in a preflight inspection by the   
   pilot or anyone else from the airline. NTSB investigators determined the door   
   plug was gradually moving upward over the 154 flights prior to the incident   
   before it ultimately flew off.   
       
   "Boeing's lie infuriated Captain Fisher as well, as he was being castigated   
   for his actions as opposed to being lauded," Fisher's lawyers wrote. "Because   
   he had flown Boeing aircraft for the entirety of his employment with Alaska   
   Airlines, Boeing's attempts to blame him felt like a deep, personal betrayal   
   by a company that claimed to hold pilots in the highest regard."   
       
   The NTSB made clear this was caused by a manufacturing issue and the crew's   
   actions were exemplary. Experienced pilot John Cox, who is CEO of the Safety   
   Operating Systems aviation safety consulting firm, said the crew did a   
   remarkable job considering what they were dealing with, and no one has faulted   
   the crew.   
       
   "I think the Boeing lawyers were kind of grasping at straws," Cox said.   
       
   The blowout occurred minutes after the flight took off from Portland, Oregon,   
   and created a roaring air vacuum. Seven passengers and one flight attendant   
   sustained minor injuries, but the plane landed safely.   
       
   "The first indication was an explosion in my ears and then a whoosh of air,"   
   First Officer Emily Wiprud told CBS News in an exclusive interview in 2024.   
   "My body was forced forward and there was a loud bang as well. ... The flight   
   deck door was open. I saw tubes hanging from the cabin."   
       
   Wiprud said that at that point, she didn't know what was wrong. Instinct took   
   over, and she and the captain started working to land safely.   
       
   "I didn't know that there was a hole in the airplane until we landed," Wiprud   
   said. "I knew something was catastrophically wrong."   
       
   The 2-foot-by-4-foot piece of fuselage covering an unused emergency exit   
   behind the left wing had blown out. Only seven seats on the flight were   
   unoccupied, including the two seats closest to the opening. A teen aboard the   
   flight had his shirt ripped off his body.  Multiple objects, including the   
   phones of two passengers, Wiprud's headset and multiple aircraft components,   
   were sucked out of the aircraft.   
       
   Shandy Brewer was sitting in Row 10 on the flight when the door blew off. It   
   was an experience that stuck with her 18 months later.   
       
   "All of a sudden, just this huge bang happened. It sounded like a firework   
   going off, like right in your ears, just like so loud," she recalled. "As soon   
   as I step onto an airplane, tears start pouring down my face every single   
   time. I haven't been on a flight where that doesn't happen."   
       
   Boeing factory workers told NTSB investigators they felt pressured to work too   
   fast and were asked to perform jobs they weren't qualified for.   
       
   Fisher's lawsuit describes how he and the first officer acted quickly after   
   losing cabin pressure when the panel blew out to fly the plane safely back to   
   Portland while decreasing altitude and working with air traffic controllers to   
   avoid any other planes in the area.   
       
   The airline didn't answer a question about whether Fisher is still flying for   
   them, and the lawsuit described him as a citizen and well-respected member of   
   the aviation community. It wasn't clear Tuesday whether he is still working as   
   a pilot.   
       
   The head of the commercial airplane unit at Boeing at the time, Stan Deal,   
   commended the Alaska Airlines crew for safely landing the plane in a memo to   
   employees after the incident.   
       
   Boeing did not comment directly on this new lawsuit. But the company's CEO,   
   Kelly Ortberg, has made improving safety a top priority ever since he took   
   over the top job at Boeing in August 2024.   
       
   The FAA fined Boeing $3.1 million over safety violations inspectors found   
   after the door plug incident. In October, the agency allowed Boeing to   
   increase production of the 737 Max to 42 planes a month because inspectors   
   were satisfied with the measures the company had taken to improve safety.   
       
   Alaska Airlines also declined to comment on the lawsuit, but said the airline   
   remains "grateful to our crew members for the bravery and quick-thinking that   
   they displayed on Flight 1282 in ensuring the safety of all on board."   
      
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