Captain Brandon Fisher, the Alaska Airlines pilot praised for helping land a Boeing 737 Max 9 safely after a door plug panel blew out shortly after takeoff in January 2024, has filed a lawsuit against Boeing. Fisher’s suit, filed in an Oregon court, says Boeing tried to blame him and the rest of the crew despite findings by U.S. safety investigators.
Fisher was commended by the heads of the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration, and the crew was also praised by Boeing executives for helping ensure none of the 177 people aboard Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 were killed. The lawsuit is part of a broader dispute over where responsibility should fall after the incident.
In the filing, Fisher’s lawyers, William Walsh and Richard Mummolo, said Boeing’s earlier efforts to deflect liability in past litigation—despite what the NTSB investigation found—left Fisher facing additional legal action by some passengers and caused him distress. The lawyers wrote that Boeing’s legal arguments sought to shift blame onto Fisher, describing how the company’s statements were directed at him.
Fisher’s lawsuit says Boeing suggested the plane was “improperly maintained or misused” by others. His lawyers also wrote in court documents that “It was clear Boeing’s words were directed at Captain Fisher in attempt to paint him as the scapegoat for Boeing’s numerous failures,” adding that “Boeing’s lie infuriated Captain Fisher as well, as he was being castigated for his actions as opposed to being lauded.”
The NTSB investigation said four bolts securing what is known as the door plug panel were removed and never replaced during a repair as the 737 Max 9 was being assembled. The investigation implicated both Boeing and its key supplier Spirit Aerosystems, which has since been acquired by Boeing. Investigators also said the bolts were hidden behind interior panels, meaning they were not something that could have been easily checked in a preflight inspection by Fisher or others from the airline.
Investigators determined the door plug was gradually moving upward over the aircraft’s 154 flights before ultimately flying off. The NTSB also reported that Boeing factory workers told investigators they felt pressured to work too fast and were asked to perform jobs they weren’t qualified for.
The blowout occurred minutes after Flight 1282 took off from Portland, Oregon, creating a loud vacuum effect in the cabin. The Boeing-made fuselage covering an unused emergency exit behind the left wing—described as a 2-foot-by-4-foot (61-centimeter-by-122-centimeter) section—blew out. The plane landed safely, and the incident left seven passengers and one flight attendant with minor injuries. The report says only seven seats on the flight were unoccupied, including the two seats closest to the opening.
In its account of the moments after the panel came off, Fisher’s lawsuit says he and the first officer acted quickly after losing cabin pressure. The filing describes the crew flying the plane safely back to Portland while decreasing altitude and coordinating with air traffic controllers to avoid other aircraft in the area. The airline did not answer a question about whether Fisher is still flying for it.
A former pilot and aviation safety consultant, John Cox, said the crew’s work during the emergency was exemplary. “I think the Boeing lawyers were kind of grasping at straws,” Cox said, adding that no one has faulted the crew. Four flight attendants previously sued Boeing over the same incident last summer.
Boeing’s head of the commercial airplane unit at the time, Stan Deal, commended the Alaska Airlines crew in a memo to employees after the door plug incident, according to the report. Boeing did not comment directly on Fisher’s new lawsuit, but the company’s CEO, Kelly Ortberg, has made improving safety a top priority since he took over in August 2024.
The FAA fined Boeing $3.1 million over safety violations inspectors found after the door plug incident. The FAA also allowed Boeing in October to increase 737 Max production to 42 planes a month after inspectors said they were satisfied with the company’s safety-improvement measures. Alaska Airlines, meanwhile, declined to comment on the lawsuit but said it 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.”
This story was updated to correct the surname spelling of one of Fisher’s lawyers. His name is Richard Mummolo, not Mummalo.