. thank you so much. thank you. . this is nightline tonight. >> mid-air scare scare. the terrifying moments at 16,000 feet. 177 people aboard alaska airlines flight 1282.

>> we are emergency. we are depressurized. we do need to turn back. >> a two-foot-wide panel sheared off the fuselage. >> i was really praying. i was asking god to put angels under the wings to hold us up. >> the latest version of the boeing 373 max grounded. >> we're finding that loose bolts are being found on other airplanes around the world. plus maui strong 808. a new year and a new beginning. families who lost nearly everything in the august fires. >> imagine living in a home for 20 years and having to inventory everything you had in that home in order to collect your check. >> the painful decisions some may still have to make. >> it's so hard for me to leave lahaina. my heart belongs to lahaina. >> turning to past traditions to find hope for the future. and battle of the undefeated. the best team in college football claims the glory. >> "nightline" will be right back. feeling sluggish or weighed down?

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sudden, i heard, like, a big bang. >> and i looked to my left and there's this huge chunk part of the airplane, just like missing. >> it was a nightmare scenario for the passengers of alaska airlines flight 1282 bound for ontario, california. the underside of the plane. terrifying moments from 16,000ft in the air. >> that was really praying. i was asking god to put angels under the wings to hold us up. >> the alaska jet with 177 people on board taking off from portland, oregon, friday night when all of a sudden the door plug, which is used to cover and seal optional emergency exits, flew off. now a major investigation is underway after what could have been a catastrophic disaster in the air. a lot of it was, oh my gosh, like, this isn't real. >> like there's no way this is happening. almost kind of like a dream, i guess. more than 170 boeing 737 max nine planes now grounded globally as the national transportation safety board races to investigate what

went wrong. >> is this a systemic issue with the max aircraft or was this an individual? and i'm isolated incident. they are going to take a close look at that at the ntsb. but across the board, aviation is under a microscope. it is stretched to the limit. right now. we are short air traffic controllers. we have more planes in the sky than ever before. and right now the focus is on making things safer. >> this incident is just the latest case in high profile air scares, leaving some passengers anxious, fearing for their safety from a cabin filling with smoke and panic, evacuating passengers evacuating after a bird strike on this southwest flight to florida last year. to extreme turbulence. terrified passengers at the moment of you kind of think, please god, just let me get out of this. >> and then those near misses on the nation's runways all of a sudden here on cl adult to the mostrillionecent, a devastating plane crash in the tokyo runway

last week, killing five people. >> even after these alarming events in the skies, experts say flying still remains incredibly safe. the last domestic commercial plane crash killing everyone on board was 14 years ago, but still, these recent incidents have left consumers concerned. we are emergency. >> we are depressurized. we do need to return back to the alaska jet, which had been in operation since late october, was making its third flight of the day on january fifth. >> it took off for ontario, california, around 5 p.m. pacific when that nearly two foot wide door plug flew off from the 26th row. the plane where, by chance, the two seats next to it were empty. the seat closest to the window torn to shreds. the ntsb saying they're grateful the incident happened before the plane hit. cruising altitude at 30,000ft, where experts say the outcome could have been very different if it had been cruising altitude and

that plug had given way. >> people up walking around, it could have been a disaster situation and people could have been sucked out of the airplane in the moment. >> a lot of tears. i just didn't know what was going on for him. >> of this flight was supposed to be an easy trip to visit some of her college friends and boyfriend. >> i woke up to the falling like feeling of the plane. also, the masks came down so i think the mask coming down really freaked me out. >> after the plane depressurized the 21 year old says terror struck on board. she began texting some friends and family her potential goodbyes. i was being really scared and i remember being like, i just need to tell everyone like i love them. >> i thought i was going to die. i quickly connected to the wi-fi and i texted my parents. i got my family. we have like a special code word for emergencies. so i texted them that some losing cell phones out, the plane's opening, the ntsb saying they've recovered at least two from the ground below. >> the captain had a portion of

the headset pulled off attendance racing into action to keep everyone calm and safe. >> i just noticed one flight attendant rushing down the aisle with a portable oxygen mask and she was just trying to do a head count, make sure everybody was accounted for, make sure everybody was stable. the pilot immediately headed back to portland international airport, a harrowing 26 minutes for everyone on board that flight before this accident, the ntsb telling abc news pilots on the same relatively new plane notice warning lights for the cabin's pressurization at least three times the airline putting it back into service. but with restrictions that it couldn't fly over open water. over the weekend, my colleague giovanni is asking the national transportation safety board chair, jennifer homendy, about the plane's restrictions. does that concern you at all? >> everything concerns us right now. every thing is part of this investigation. we're going to look more at the maintenance

records, the electrical, electronic logs. we're going to talk to maintenance personnel and really figure out what what occurred here. >> after a three day search that plug that flew off the plane was located in a portland, oregon, schoolteacher backyard. ntsb investigator are currently examining the door plug you see in these photos that it's not bent and they will likely be able to look at this and figure out exactly how it fell off the airplane today, united airlines saying they found loose bolts on the door plugs of their boeing 737 max nine jets that were grounded in their fleet since the alaska airlines incident. united airlines is not commenting on how many planes had loose bolts, but added that it appears to relate to insulation issues in the door plug, and alaska airlines also saying initial inspections of its max nine fleet revealed some loose hardware visible on some aircraft. boeing issuing a statement regarding the 737 nine

inspection, saying in part it will help address any and all findings. we are committed to ensuring every boeing airplane meets design and specifications in the highest safety and quality standards. >> everyone was hoping that this was an isolated incident on this particular aircraft. well, now we are learning that loose bolts are being found on other airplane cars around the world. >> if anyone knows what it's like to fly a plane with the missing window in the throes of chaos, is captain tammy jo schultz, the pilot who back in may of 2018 safely landed southwest flight 1380 after one of its windows blew out 20 minutes after takeoff. >> when a cabin depressurizes mid-flight. it's shocking the sound, the temperature, air, the air pressure exchange. it is very much like a balloon popping the flight carrying 144 passengers and five crew, had taken off from new york's laguardia, headed for dallas, but at a cruising altitude of

32,000ft, the left engine failed, sending metal into the side of the plane, shattering the window. >> the engine exploded and a shard from the engine shattered the glass over the exit row. there was, you know, momentary chaos. once darren ellisor, my first officer, and i recovered the aircraft. >> the shuddering thing that we thought would go away increased until we couldn't hear our own voices, let alone each other's eyes. and there was also the sharp pain in our ears and realizing that we weren't able to breathe very well. >> we've got injured passengers, injured passengers. >> okay. and are you is your airplane physically on fire? >> no, it's not on fire. but part of it's missing. they said there's a hole in and, uh, someone went out. >> um. i'm sorry. you said there was a hole when somebody went out. >> albuquerque bank executive jennifer reardon, a mother of two who had been on her way back from a business trip to new

york, had been sitting in exit row 14, and those she was wearing her seatbelt was nearly sucked out of the window. she was critically injured. >> these two wonderful man. they managed to get her back inside the plane and we lay her down and we started cpr. i think i can probably tell you that there was significant trauma to the body. >> jennifer reardon later died a photo taken from inside the plane shows that chewed up engine. another shot reveals the busted window debris sticking out of the edges. schultz, one of the first female fighter pilots to serve in the u.s. navy, became a pilot for southwest airlines following her active duty, she retired in 2020, and that same year was inducted into the international air and space hall of fame. she says years of training prepared the crews for the worst scenario in real life. >> i have to say, my hat's off to the alaskan crew. obviously, the cockpit crew kept their wits about them and then the cabin

crew, once they were on the ground. people don't automatically stay seated and on the aircraft unless they have the confidence in their cabin crew to do so. so i think we could just look at the outcome from a distance before all the details and, and the investigations are underway and say that this crew. did a good job. this could have been catastrophic. >> and a major loss of life. it happened very quickly. >> as for the ntsb investigation into the alaska airlines flight, experts say it could take up to two years to find out what really happened. we'll have updates on the investigation on gma in the morning when we come back. stories of struggle and resilience. maui strong five months later. i was okay . but just ok isn't ok. and i was done settling.

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>> the devastating fires of maui changed the island in its islan residents forever. many survivors are still struggling to rebuild and start over. here is abc's melissa adan with the latest in our continuing series "maui strong 808." >> you guys got your snacks? >> mommy -- >> reporter: in hawaiian, hoomaka means to begin. that's meant moving thousands of miles away from their beloved maui. the two lahaina natives met growing up on the island, high school sweetheart. >> she had a crush on me in second grade. we've been together 11 years strong. >> reporter: they relocated to nevada with their two young

children after losing their home in the lahaina wildfire in august. >> didn't want them to kind of be reminded every day of what we'd gone through and stuff, you know. so we took that opportunity to let's get out there. let's go to vegas. let's make our lives better. >> reporter: for now, their days look like this. >> you guys ready? >> reporter: trying to create some stability for their children as they rebuild their lives since their move here in october. >> see you guys later. we're excited we got into the house. but although some days we'll have those times where our kids are when are we going to go back home. >> reporter: that decision to stay or leave maui is painful for so many. memories and lost loved ones part of the ash and earth there. it was just five months ago when a massive inferno ravaged the historic district of lahaina, which was once the capital of the hawaiian kingdom, as well as a national historic landmark. >> you got to go! >> reporter: at least 100 died,

four still missing. over $5.5 billion in damage. and more than 2400 households remain displaced in one of hawaii's worst disasters on record, according to governor greene's office. >> i'm usually in the burn zone maybe once a week. >> reporter: insurance executive strong is a lahaina native and on the front line of the work to rebuild. she says she and her team of six are handling over a thousand home and auto claims. >> about no later than 4:00 a.m. is when i begin my day. i have a rule, and i don't leave the office until every voice mail email has been dealt with. >> reporter: after of last october, more than 3700 homeowners have filed insurance claims in the maui fire, nearly 1500 of those properties suffering a total loss. some homeowners never had adequate insurance to begin with. >> a lot of people that underbought insurance because they didn't plan for something like this to happen. >> reporter: and the process of filling out a claim can be tedious. >> imagine living in a home for

20 years and having to inventory everything you had in that home in order to collect your check. >> reporter: strong says some insurance payouts have been delayed because insurance adjusters weren't immediately able to access the burn zone. roughly 40% of claimed money has not been paid, equal to more than $486 million. >> it's moved into a time where people need help. they don't understand how they presented $300,000 in personal property, but only got paid $120,000. they want to know after they took hours, we took hours with them, printed out amazon receipts for crying out loud to help them get to these numbers. >> reporter: yet another challenge, the sheer cost of rebuilding. >> i do believe it's going to take at minimum maybe an average of 40% more than what people are insured for in order to cover the cost to rebuild. >> reporter: melan cesar is one of those coming up short even after an insurance payout. >> we filed the insurance claim. but what they gave us is not enough. so we still working on our

insurance. everything here is so expensive. so i'm just hoping and praying for the best. >> so sorry it's so messy. >> reporter: we first met nelan last august as she turned to this shelter at the royal lahaina. >> i'm thankful we have this room. >> reporter: months later, she is still living here day by day. >> i want to rebuild our house. my heart belongs to lahaina. we tried to look for a housing, apartments, condo, everything are so expensive. it's crazy expensive. >> reporter: affordable housing was already an issue before the fire and is now one of the island's biggest hurdles. at the state level, governor josh greene is trying to convince 1500 short-term rentals on maui to convert to long-term housing by march 1st. >> it's just not okay that we don't have housing for our local people. ♪ >> reporter: but with so much about the future still so uncertain, the community taking comfort in the past, leaning on

traditions and ancient wisdoms. >> i have a short little hawaiian proverb that goes like this [ speaking in a non-english language ] and what that simply means is life is delicious when you are in the right place at the right time for all the right reasons. >> reporter: hawaiian cultural leader calling on ancestors for supporting guidance in this ceremony. >> the ceremony itself takes people to the water's edge, and they go into that water and come out having a whole new experience. almost like being born anew, and having a new lease on life. >> reporter: and in that newness, hope. >> and so hoomaka is to see the beginning. when you're a navigator, you have to see the beginning of the horizon and know that you're

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>> and finally tonight. it was a great game. a new college football national champion has ,al champion has just been crowned. >> here it is. they won't pull that down. perhaps as they say in ann arbor, conquering heroes, victors valiant, michigan national champions for the 2023 season. chris, back to you. >> universal of michigan wolverines pulled away from the washington huskies in the fourth quarter of a national championship game. the final score 34-13. it's michigan's first national title in 26 years.