Alaska Airlines jet sustains damage in on-ground incident ALLISON LINN Associated Press SEATTLE - An Alaska Airlines jet sustained damage Thursday at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport after making contact with a vehicle used to load baggage, just over a week after a similar incident caused an in-flight scare on a different Alaska Airlines flight. No one was injured in Thursday's incident. Alaska Airlines spokeswoman Amanda Tobin said the Boeing 737-700 was being moved by a push tug at the time of the incident, but she could not immediately say whether the plane hit the loader or vice versa. A push tug is normally used to move an aircraft away from a gate or pull it toward a gate. Tobin said about four people had boarded Flight 808 bound for Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport around 11:30 a.m. when the damage occurred. The passengers exited the plane and were reaccommodated. The airline immediately informed authorities and was still investigating, she said. "We are looking diligently at the cause," she said. On Dec. 26, an Alaska Airlines MD-80 heading for Burbank, Calif., lost cabin pressure at 26,000 feet because of a foot-long gash in its fuselage. Investigators said that in-flight scare occurred after a ramp worker struck the airplane with a baggage-handling vehicle while it was at the gate, but did not immediately report the accident. The hit caused a crease in the airplane's aluminum skin, which opened up to a 12- by 6-inch gash as the plane reached 26,000 feet. The plane landed normally and none of the passengers was injured. Alaska said that worker, who works for Menzies Aviation, was suspended. Other workers were given safety briefings. Alaska Airlines hired British firm Menzies to provide baggage handling and other ramp services after laying off nearly 500 ramp workers at Sea-Tac last May. In a statement then, Alaska said hiring Menzies would save $13 million a year. Alaska Airlines, a subsidiary of Seattle-based Alaska Air Group Inc., is the nation's ninth-largest carrier. Together with its sister airline, Horizon Air, it flies to more than 80 cities in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Roger & Amanda La France