Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-700 Turns Back To Seattle On Flight To Juneau

An Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-700 was forced to return to Seattle Tacoma International Airport (SEA) while en route to Juneau International Airport (JNU) on June 11. The flight, AS95, departed SEA at 23:07 local time but turned back over Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, and landed back in Seattle.

Incident Details

The aircraft, registered as N644AS, did not declare an emergency or squawk 7700, the general code for onboard emergencies. The nature of the incident remains unclear, and Alaska Airlines has not yet commented. The Boeing 737-700 has been out of service since its return but is scheduled to resume flights on June 14 and 15.

Previous Incidents

This particular Boeing 737-700 has a history of incidents:

• February 2019: While operating flight AS155, the aircraft struck a parked cargo aircraft's wing while taxiing at Ralph Wien Memorial Airport (OTZ), grounding it temporarily.
• February 2024: The aircraft suffered a bird strike on flight AS61 between SEA and JNU. It was subsequently flown back to SEA under a special flight code and later moved to Anchorage (ANC).

Aircraft History

The aircraft was delivered to Alaska Airlines on February 6, 2003, and has accumulated over 62,047 flight hours and 33,465 flight cycles as of February 2023. Configured with 124 seats (12 business, 18 premium economy, and 94 economy), it remains a vital part of Alaska Airlines' fleet.

Alaska Airlines currently operates 11 Boeing 737-700 aircraft and plans to keep them in service until at least the end of 2026. In June, the airline has scheduled 370 weekly departures using this aircraft type.