Oregon Man Whose Head Was Sucked Out of a Plane Window ‘Can Still Feel It ‘ 30 Years Later

When part of an Alaska Airlines plane blew off during a flight last week, it brought back memories from more than 30 years ago for a passenger who nearly got sucked out of a broken window on a plane.

Gale Sears was on a flight out of Portland in 1990, he told the Oregonian, looking out the window at the propeller on the small Horizon Airways plane.

Sears said he heard popping and suddenly the window blew out and his head and shoulders were sucked out of the roughly 10-by-14-inch hole.

“I can still remember that moment,” Sears told the paper. “I can still feel it in my stomach.”

The incident was widely covered when it took place and carried by national outlets, including the National Enquirer.

Sears, who was a major in the Oregon National Guard major, was on his way to Pennsylvania with five other guard members.

One of the other guardsmen saved him by grabbing his belt and pulling him back in the plane.

“I had no idea what was going on,” Sears added. “This all happened in an instant.”

The plane landed in Seattle-Tacoma International and he was treated for shock, cuts and other minor injuries, the Seattle Times reported.

“I’m 38 today, and I'll still be an alive 38 tomorrow. I'm just happy to be alive,” Sears said at the time.

The incident involving Alaska Airlines flight 1282 last week has kept him busy as friends and relatives call him to relive his near-death incident on a plane.

He now reportedly feels a kinship with the people who were on the plane during the recent incident.