Three passengers from Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, where a door plug blew out, sued Boeing and the airline for $1 billion

Three passengers on the Alaska Airlines plane that had to make an emergency landing after a door plug broke out are suing the airline and Boeing for $1 billion, claiming negligence.

Kyle Rinker, Amanda Strickland, and Kevin Kwok, who were on Alaska Flight 1282 when an unused exit door detached minutes into a scheduled trip from Portland to Ontario, California, in early January, filed a complaint in Multnomah County, Oregon, on Feb. 20. Multnomah County has Portland.

Boeing, which made Alaska Airlines' 737 Max 9 jet, is being sued for compensatory and punitive damages.

"As a direct result of the frightful, death-threatening failure of the Boeing aircraft, Mr. Kwok, Mr. Rinker, and Ms. Strickland suffered severe mental, emotional, and psychological injuries, including post-traumatic stress, and physical injuries," the suit states, noting that the sudden pressure shift in the seat "caused some passengers' ears to bleed."

Atlanta-based aviation legal firm Jonathan W. Johnson, LLC filed the complaint on behalf of Kwok, Rinker, and Strickland, hoping "to hold Boeing accountable for its negligence which had caused extreme panic, fear, and post-traumatic stress." It labeled the flight 1282 blow-out "a preventable incident" that endangered passengers and crew on that plane and others Boeing planes with similar faults.