Hole appears in passenger jet at 36,000 feet

[HolliePoppins]

Sounds terrifying but it ended well. I am glad everyone on board is safe. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42385570/ns/travel-news

 

[dudspizza]

Sounds terrifying but it ended well. I am glad everyone on board is safe. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42385570/ns/travel-news

And for reasons like this it is probably important to pay attention to the emergency instructions at the beginning of a flight.......

Glad all ended well...

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Yes, and please note this happened on SOUTHWEST. They do have problems (including problems related to safety maintenance), despite what many people seem to think.

http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/c...ts-grounded-by-maintenance-troubles/19141187/

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2010-02-10-american-airlines-faa_N.htm

 

[Alexander]

Southwest--discount airline.....Something has to be discounted. I found this comment...

i have been an aircraft mech for over 25 years. i built the b-1 series and have worked for the major airlines as well a private and corporate aircraft. there is a repair for this. in 1988 following the aloha air incident, boeing knew about the weak joint in the top of the fuselage. the repair would be to install another layer of skin over the weak joint. it could be done while the aircraft was in it's heavy inspection which takes months to complete. the installation would take a few days to a week. or the airlines were given the option to comply with a continuous inspection of that area in the affected aircraft. do we see where this is going?
this problem could have been repaired years ago and would extend the service life of the aircraft by many years, but the airlines are SO cheap and indifferently disconcerned with your safety that they CHOOSE to not repair the aircraft, but instead to "repeatedly inspect" the weakened area. on top of this southwest was fined for not complying with mandated inspections. do you really believe they were doing the required inspections? i realize money is a concern, but when money is more important that passenger safety, something terrible is about to happen. i tell people all the time how much it will cost to fix something and they baulk and wrench their hands and treat you like you are trying to steal from them. do you think it's any different at the major airlines? it's much worse. it's cutthroat. the airlines are ABSOLUTELY NOT concerned with your safety or even the safety of their crew. they want money. the safeguards are put in place by the FAA and the NTSB. in spite of their miring bureaucracy, if not for the operational mandates, there would be a lot more accidents.

 

[uva185]

Southwest has a long history of maintenance problems related to the fuselage and apparently they are not doing enough to correct the problems. They have been given record fines for not properly inspecting and maintaining the fuselage and had a similar incident within the past two years where the fuselage cracked open mid flight. All this is just one reason I would not give a cent to this crappy airline!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southwest_Airlines_Flight_2294

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/06/b...0fb9db1705b63e&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

 

[Brian Noble]

"Put on your own mask before assisting others."

 

[NancyIL]

I can HARDLY wait until AirTran is absorbed by Southwest - NOT!

Southwest grounded 81 planes for inspection. That might interrupt a few travelers' plans!
http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/04/02/arizona.flight.diverted/index.html?hpt=C1

 

[mickey2000]

" Southwest--discount airline.....Something has to be discounted."

I agee they have problems . What scares me would be Spirit with thier unrealistic prices and I don't care attitude ! Thats where IMO I would feel unsafe and wouldn't even fly for $9

Face the facts NO AIRLINE IMO can be good with those cheap prices ! Something has to suffer .........

 

[kaffinito]

This is one of the reasons I'm afraid to fly.

 

[ms.ojo]

Certainly caught my attn. This is the first time we're flying Delta in years. Got a great fare in January. We've been using SWA since 2003. I hear they grounded 81 SWA flights to check on similiar problems w/ those airplanes. In a way, it's good it happened (and no one was hurt)...b/c now the others will all be properly "fixed" and be ready to fly again. Safer for everyone.

 

[Uncleromulus]

Wonder how you fix a "hole" in the top of an airplane. Weld it shut?

 

[DebbieB]

This is one of the reasons I'm afraid to fly.

Think of it this way - there are thousands of flights daily. When was the last time there was a fatal accident with a major airline? It's been years. There were a couple of regional airline accidents but no full size plane fatal accidents since 2005 (and that one was someone on the ground).

 

[uva185]

Certainly caught my attn. This is the first time we're flying Delta in years. Got a great fare in January. We've been using SWA since 2003. I hear they grounded 81 SWA flights to check on similiar problems w/ those airplanes. In a way, it's good it happened (and no one was hurt)...b/c now the others will all be properly "fixed" and be ready to fly again. Safer for everyone.

A near identical incident happened less than 2 years ago. Prior to that the FAA fined Southwest for not properly inspecting the fuselage on their planes. What makes you think this incident will change anything?

 

[Funwith4kids]

Think of it this way - there are thousands of flights daily. When was the last time there was a fatal accident with a major airline? It's been years. There were a couple of regional airline accidents but no full size plane fatal accidents since 2005 (and that one was someone on the ground).

Hope we are not DUE!!

 

[katallo]

According to this recent story, it looks as if this is more widespread.

National safety inspectors have found evidence of "widespread cracking" and fatigue on the fuselage of a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 that made an emergency landing in Arizona with a hole in the cabin, a government official said on Sunday.

"Was the aircraft well maintained and should it have been maintained better? That is exactly why we are here, to look at why this problem occurred," National Transportation Safety Board Member Robert Sumwalt said at a press conference broadcast from Yuma, Arizona via Internet streaming.

As a result of the incident, Southwest has grounded part of its fleet for inspections.

 

[Kim&Chris]

SWA has apparently learned nothing from their last fusilage/maintenance fiasco.

I'm SO upset about this. We're scheduled to fly on SWA next month, and I've been sick all day (reading about all of this).

 

[Buzz's Buddy]

" Southwest--discount airline.....Something has to be discounted."

I agee they have problems . What scares me would be Spirit with thier unrealistic prices and I don't care attitude ! Thats where IMO I would feel unsafe and wouldn't even fly for $9

Say what you will, but Southwest has had more problems than Spirit.

Just one more reason I'm sad to see Air Tran be absorbed by Southwest.

 

[katallo]

Has anyone heard how SW is notifying customers about flight cancellations?

 

[NancyIL]

Has anyone heard how SW is notifying customers about flight cancellations?

Their web site says:

Operations and Service Initiatives Update

Southwest Airlines is experiencing relatively few flight delays and cancellations while we are proactively inspecting some of our Boeing 737s. For the latest information about these inspections, click: Southwest Media

The majority of our scheduled service is not affected, and to check the status of your flight, please go to: Flight Status Information

We apologize if your travel plans have been disrupted. If your flight is delayed or cancelled and you would like to reschedule your trip in accordance with our accommodation guidelines, please click: Online Rebook

For Customers who did not purchase their ticket via southwest.com, please call 1-800-435-9792 to rebook your travel plans without paying any additional charge. Also, Customers holding reservations for a cancelled flight may request a refund for an unused ticket/travel itinerary.

http://www.southwest.com/html/travel_center/delays_cancellations.html

 

[uva185]

From the article cited below: However, "small, subsurface cracks" or indications of cracks were detected in three other aircraft.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/TRAVEL/04/03/arizona.flight.diverted/index.html?hpt=T2

This really seems to be a problem at Southwest. They tend to operate shorter flights than legacy airlines which causes greater stress on the fuselage per hour of flight time due to more frequent compression / decompression.

If Southwest wants to run a schedule like they do they need to make sure they are taking more care in inspecting their planes. Thus far they have proven they are not since they were given a record (at the time) fine by the FAA for not properly inspecting the fuselage followed by a cracked fuselage incident 1 year later and then this incident 20 months later.

I refuse to fly Southwest for numerous reasons but this is a really serious situation which Southwest is not addressing.