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Jan. 7 (UPI) -- Terrified passengers aboard an Alaska Airlines flight that was forced to make an emergency landing shortly after takeoff when part of the fuselage fell off, describe hearing a "loud boom," followed by a fierce gust of wind when the incident occurred. The FAA ordered 171 Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft temporarily grounded for inspections, but later released 18 of the planes back into service.
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Evan Granger, who was seated in seat 16F, told NBC News that both his ears became plugged when there was "a gust of wind coming in" at about 20 minutes into the flight on Friday.
Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 lost a panel on its rear fuselage shortly after taking off from Portland International Airport, causing a pressurization problem and forcing the aircraft to make an emergency landing at the Portland, Ore., airport at about 5 p.m.
The flight crew quickly reported an emergency to air traffic control from the cockpit.
"I didn't want to look back to see what was happening," Granger told NBC News. "My focus in that moment was just breathe into the oxygen mask and trust that the flight crew will do everything they can to keep us safe."
Granger said "there are so many things that had to go right in order for all of us to have survived," adding that he is "very grateful" that the crew was able to land the plane safely.
Elizabeth Le of Portland, Oregon, reported hearing the same thing as Granger and not knowing what to think.
"All of a sudden I heard like a big bang and I didn't know exactly what was going on, but I look up and the oxygen masks were hanging from the ceiling," Le told Southern California news outlet OC Hawk. "And then I look to my left and there's this huge chunk, part of the airplane is like missing."
Despite "extremely loud" wind rushing into the airplane, passengers stayed in their seats and kept their seatbelts on, Le said.
"I couldn't really think straight because of how loud the wind was," she said. "I just couldn't believe my eyes. There's a gaping hole. You could see the city and the stars and everything just outside of the window. It was crazy."
Le said there was no one sitting in the window seat of the row where the piece of fuselage came away from the plane, but that a mom and son were in the middle and aisle seats.
Le said she heard later that the mom had to hold her teenage son tightly to keep him from being sucked out of the plane, and was told that his shirt had flown off and he looked very red, likely from the intense wind.
Jessica Montoya, another passenger on flight 1282, told OC Hawk the plane had just reached 10,000 feet when a portion of the plane's inner wall detached.
"We flew for another three or four minutes, and then we heard this pop and all the oxygen masks came down," she said. "I wasn't afraid. I don't know why. No one really screamed or anything."
Montoya said she spoke to a fellow passenger after the incident who told her that his shirt and phone were "sucked out" of the aircraft.
"It was a trip from hell," Montoya said.
A passenger photo showed an entire panel missing from a side of the aircraft next to a row of seats. The panel, known as a door plug, detached from the plane at an altitude of about 16,000, National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said during a news conference Saturday night.
Stan Sigstad, also a passenger on the flight, said he also heard a "pop noise" followed by strong wind that came "forward and then it came back, it hit me in the face," he said.
"I was a little bit nervous," he said to OC Hawk. "But I told God, 'I trust you.'"
The Federal Aviation Administration said the crew "reported a pressurization issue" when the plane part separated from the fuselage, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the plane.
Le, Montoya and Sigstad all said the passengers and crew all remained surprisingly calm during the ordeal.
Montoya lauded the flight attendants for staying calm and Sigstad said the "calmness" of the pilot's voice is what "kept everyone calm."
Flight 1282 was carrying 174 passengers and six crew members.
