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BREAKING: Southwest Airlines jet lands with fuselage hole
Sacramento bound Southwest Airlines flight 812 made an emergency descent this evening after a large hole appeared in the fuselage. The photo above was shot by a passenger on the plane who described the event in great detail on her Twitter account.
According to Flightaware.com, the plane dropped 16,000 feet in one minute, and some passengers reportedly passed out due to lack of oxygen from the rapid decompression. Despite the major damage, only one flight attendant was injured.
The hole is at least three feet long, and exposed wiring and other airplane parts. According to CNN, the FAA is sending a team to Yuma International Airport to inspect the plane.
Passenger Shawna MalviniRedden has more photos on her Twitter account, including one of the pilot of the plane and the view from her seat.
This is not the first time a Southwest Airlines plane has suffered damage like this -- in 2009, another Boeing 737 had to make an emergency landing when a "football sized" hole appeared. That incident prompted a fleet wide check of all 737's.
Before you break out in a panic and start booking train tickets, remember that this plane had a three foot gash, and still held together perfectly. Kudos to the flight crew for bringing the plane down safely.
According to a source, the plane in question was a Boeing 737-3H4 which entered service with Southwest in 1996.
Photo courtesy of @BluestMuse/Twitpic
Filed under: North America, Airlines
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Joseph Apr 1st 2011 11:06PM
And this is why gadling should stop with the April Fools posts.
Charlene Apr 2nd 2011 2:26PM
This was not an April Fools joke. I live in Yuma, where the plane landed.
Pinto Apr 2nd 2011 8:09AM
I am a retired aircraft mechanic (35 years with TWA) what is going on today with aircraft maintenance is sad and frightening !
Melinda Apr 2nd 2011 7:07PM
I grew up in a TWA family and there was no airline like it, whether maintenance on the ground or service in the air. They don't make airlines like that anymore.
Harry Hurt Apr 2nd 2011 8:17AM
The roof came off of a 737 back in the eighties, I forget the year. The plane made it in alright, but I think there was a fatality. All the problems with the outer skin of the aircraft seem to be with 737s. The FAA needs to check into this. Boeing makes the best aircraft in the world. It is strange that they are not looking into this further.
Owen Apr 2nd 2011 11:18AM
You're absolutely right, sir. It was an Aloha Airlines Boeing 737 that blew a hole in the roof of the fuselage. A stewardess was sucked out of the aircraft.
Racingrec Apr 2nd 2011 8:20PM
The problem with the Aloha aircraft was that it had made over 89,000 cycles, the second most of any aircraft flying at that time. The pure number of take offs and landings stressed the airframe beyond its durability. Passengers stated after the fatal flight that when boarding, they noticed that the upper fuselage had minor peeling along the area just aft of the main cabin door. Southwest's aircraft make enough cycles due to lots of shorter flights, maybe this is what happened again. Or maybe Southwest's mechanics are starting to behave like the ones I worked with at Continental.
Patrick Apr 2nd 2011 1:39PM
Yes, I think that it was a hawaiian airline and the sterardess was killed.
BUBBA5585 Apr 2nd 2011 2:10PM
The accident you are reffering to happened in Hawaii. A stewardess was sucked out of the plane. She was never found..
dan Apr 2nd 2011 2:33PM
The main reason you see so many problems with 737s is the shear volume of them produced (over 6000 produced) and quite frankly there the workhouse of the sky. Meaning they work them constintly
Robert Hubeli Sep 24th 2011 5:31PM
It was an Aloha Airlines jet and it was a result of aircraft aging and extreme aircraft cycles. (time from wheels up to wheels down). The 2 together resulted in metal fatigue and de-bonding of skin from the upper fuselgae. The FAA then came up with an aging aircraft program to address the problem in the US. Unfortunately, many airlines today are farming their heavy aircraft maintenance to 3rd party repair stations. Many of them are in 3rd world countries and are not subject to the same scrutiny as the airlines are themselves. Until the consumer speaks up and starts demanding that all aircraft maintenance on US airlines be performed by the airlines, this problem will continue to deteriorate. As an aircraft mechanic for a major US airline, I urge the consumers to speak up, call Washington and DEMAND that US airline maintenance be perfomed in the US.
Pinto Apr 2nd 2011 8:42AM
Some of todays airlines out sorce their maintenance to other countries where the work is performed by unskilled ,unlicensed and low paid workers, but you want cheap fares ? Whats your ass worth to you?
Frankling Apr 2nd 2011 9:16AM
We could have cheap fares AND safety if the executives didn't constantly push for increased profits from markets that don't support them for money to put in their own pockets. The labor cost advantage realized by any company that outsources isn't passed on to consumers. The practice inflates these companies bottom line without regard to the effects on the marketplace and society in general.
GB Apr 2nd 2011 12:29PM
Please tell us exactely which airlines those are so we won't think you just made that up.
Walter Seltzer Apr 2nd 2011 8:48AM
These 737s on short runs are continually taking off and landing, and that is when there is the most stress on the shell of the plane... more than on the transcontinental aircraft. So it is understandable why this happens to the 737s and not the 747s. Having said that, the airlines are under financial stress, and when that happens, everything suffers.. service, maintenance, amenities. I would rather pay a $25 maintenance fee than a $25 baggage fee.
pete Apr 2nd 2011 10:14AM
Under financial stress?
The CEOs of all airlines get more than $3 million per year plus first class for themselves and their families any time, any where. They also receive "golden parachute" pensions and medical coverage.
Some of these airlines have as many as 20 to 25 vice presidents, department heads, and other titles, and rarely to any of them get less than $1 million, plus the parachute and benefits.
Add to that the union wages paid out. As a United mechanic, every time our contract came due the cleaners, washers, baggage handlers, food service and all the other attached demanded the same wage and benefits package the licensed A&P mechanics received.
Now most of the maintenance, maybe as much as 70%, it outsourced.
Brad Apr 2nd 2011 9:24AM
We'd all be much safer in the air if they TSA agents were trained in jet mechanics instead of personal invasion.
wizard Apr 2nd 2011 9:43AM
It shouldnt have had a hole period.
Pinto Apr 2nd 2011 9:56AM
Airline travel today is worse than traviling on a bus, but cheap fares are what the public wanted and they got it , you can't pay a licensed mechanic to do the maintenance the correct way on cheap fares so you send the work to Mexico or some other country where they have some licensed people that signoff on the work of unlicensed people making $ 5.00 an hour to work on aircraft, its a joke and its your ass .
pete Apr 2nd 2011 10:17AM
That's why I drive these days. I'd suggest you do the same. But I'm not too sure you should do it in a pinto.