Alaska Airlines offers over P80,000 compensation to passengers during mid-air window mishap

Alaska Airlines is offering compensation as well as access to mental health resources to passengers after its aircraft's door-sized window panel blew out mid-flight.

In a statement provided to PEOPLE Magazine, the airline company said it has given a full refund to each person who boarded Flight 1282 on top of a compensation of $1,500 (P84,000) for “any incidental expenses” within 24 hours of the incident. 

The media outlet reported that the airline also offered 24/7 access to mental health resources and counseling sessions as they made a promise to "continue to work with them to address their specific needs and concerns.” 

Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 made an emergency landing on Jan. 6 en route to Ontario, California after its window panel blew out at 16,000 feet. All 177 passengers who boarded the flight survived the ordeal. 

Passengers have been opening up about their traumatic experience, with some saying they thought they “were going to die” during the incident.  

Another one also recalled seeing her 15-year-old son being pulled out of the hole. 

“I reached over and grabbed his body and pulled him towards me over the armrest,” she said, adding, "I did not realize until after the flight that his clothing had been torn off of his upper body.” 

Passenger Nicholas Hoch, meanwhile, told the Washington Post that he's still not sure whether the reimbursement and compensation they were given are enough to make up for what happened.

“I haven’t fully processed if that payment is enough or not, I don’t know how this is going to affect me in the coming weeks and months, you know?” he said, recalling the hassle he went through for lining up for two hours and getting a new flight ticket going home. 

For his part, Dave Calhoun, CEO of Boeing, maker of the subject aircraft, shared he was “shaken to the bone" by the incident and acknowledged their mistake. 

“We're going to approach it with 100% and complete transparency every step of the way,” he said.  

Its executive Stan Deal also stressed that they acknowledge “the real seriousness of the accident.”

According to a Reuters report, the company launched quality control processes to ensure that the accident “can never happen again."