Jacob Elordi mocks Alaska Airlines’ mid-air blowout on SNL: ‘You didn’t die, and you got a cool story’

Saturday Night Live made fun of Alaska Airlines’ recent mid-flight incident that resulted in a door plug flying off an aircraft at 16,000 feet minutes after leaving Portland.

After a break for the holidays, SNL returned to screens with actor Jacob Elordi as this week’s host, who also appeared in the Alaska Airlines sketch as a company staff member.

“On other airlines, you can watch movies, but on Alaska, you’re in the movie,” the Saltburn actor said in the sketch before cutting to a chaotic scene of people screaming and crying as an aircraft seemingly plummeted out of the sky.

The real incident occurred on 5 January when flight 1282 was departing from Portland, Oregon, to Ontario, California. Minutes into the flight, a door plug blew off the plane, leaving a gaping hole.

A young child’s shirt was ripped off, and iPhones and other items were sucked out into the sky before the plane descended for an emergency landing.

While no one was seriously injured, passengers who are now suing Boeing allege some had bleeding ears, bruises and headaches in the complaint.

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“That’s why our new slogan is ‘Alaska Airlines: You didn’t die, and you got a cool story,’” joked SNL cast member Heidi Gardner in the sketch.

The mock advertisement for the airlines stated that safety was one of their biggest concerns, but cast member Kenan Thompson joked about the absurdity of the incident.

“But you got to admit, it looked pretty cool. Plane flying around, no door,” Mr Thompson said, playing a flight attendant.

“When people ask me where the emergency exits are, I’m like there, there, and in 10 minutes, probably there,” Mr Thompson added, pointing to the plane wall near a window seat.

The sketch went on to say that the airline decided it was going to make some changes.

“You know those bolts that, like, hold the plane together? We’re gonna go ahead and tighten some of those,” Mr Elordi said.

Other changes also included a new flight safety brochure, which was as thick as a Yellow Pages directory and the inflatable slide already deployed before take off.

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The pretend advertisement also included an endorsement from a passenger saying everyone wants to know the story of the door plug blowing out.

“At the time, I was terrified,” she said. “But now, I’m the coolest person at the office. Everyone’s stopping by my cubicle, all wanting to know about that little boy whose shirt got sucked out the plane.”

In another scene, another pretend passenger said they got a commemorative photo of the flight, holding up a snapshot of their row of seats as if they were at the top of a theme park ride.

The sketch also pokes fun at another recent Alaska Airlines incident, when an off-duty pilot for the company on psychedelic mushrooms allegedly tried to shut off the plane’s engines during a Horizon Airlines flight.

“We’re the same airline where a pilot tried to turn off the engine mid-flight while on mushrooms,” Mr Thompson said. “And now we are so proud to say that’s our second worst flight.”

While the sketch pokes fun, passengers who have filed a lawsuit against Boeing have not left the experience thinking of it as a laughing matter.

“Passengers were shocked, terrorised and confused, thrust into a waking nightmare, hoping they would live long enough to walk the earth again,” the court filings said.