The National Transportation Safety Board chairwoman says heroic actions by the crew aboard an Alaska Airlines flight ensured everyone survived last year when the door plug panel blew out of the plane.

The midair blowout in January 2024, which left a gaping hole in the side of the plane operated by Alaska Airlines, didn’t result in any fatalities, but it plunged Boeing into crisis as regulators and policymakers scrutinized quality lapses at the planemaker’s factories.