Hole Rips Open Plane

[DeSwiss]

Run time: 01:23 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOxtmSKuRgA   Posted on YouTube: April 02, 2011 By YouTube Member: AlJazeeraEnglish Views on YouTube: 291   Posted on DU: April 02, 2011 By DU Member: DeSwiss Views on DU: 904

 

The plane is a 15-year-old Boeing 737-300. Southwest officials said Saturday they would pull 80 similar planes out of service for inspections of the fuselage. Southwest operates more than 200 of the 737-300s in its fleet of about 540 planes, but it replaced the aluminum skin on many of the 300s in recent years, spokeswoman Linda Rutherford said. The 80 planes being grounded have not have their skin replaced, she said.

"Obviously we're dealing with a skin issue, and we believe that these 80 airplanes are covered by a set of (federal safety rules) that make them candidates to do this additional inspection that Boeing is devising for us," Rutherford said. Southwest officials said the Arizona plane had undergone all inspections required by the FAA, but they did not immediately provide the date of the last inspection. The 737-300 is the oldest plane in Southwest's fleet, and the company is retiring 300s as it take deliveries of new Boeing 737-700s and, beginning next year, 737-800s. But the process of replacing all the 300s could take years.

*snip*

The National Transportation Safety Board said an "in-flight fuselage rupture" led to the drop in cabin pressure aboard the plane. A similar incident on a Southwest plane to Baltimore in July 2009 also forced an emergency landing when a foot-long hole opened in the cabin. Four months earlier, the Dallas-based airline had agreed to pay $7.5 million to settle charges that it operated planes that had missed required safety inspections for cracks in the fuselage. The airline, which flies Boeing 737s, inspected nearly 200 of its planes back then, found no cracks and put them back in the sky.

*snip*

Holes in aircraft can be caused by metal fatigue or lightning. The National Weather Service said the weather was clear from the Phoenix area to the California border on Friday afternoon. In 1988, cracks caused part of the roof of an Aloha Airlines Boeing 737 to peel open while the jet flew from Hilo to Honolulu. A flight attendant was sucked out of the plane and plunged to her death, and dozens of passengers were injured. Three years ago, an exploding oxygen cylinder ripped a gaping hole the fuselage of a Qantas Boeing 747-438 carrying 365 people. The plane descended thousands of feet with the loss of cabin pressure and flew about 300 miles to Manila, where it made a successful emergency landing. No one was injured.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/02/fuselage-rupture-forces-emergency-landing-southwest_n_843925.html">MORE

- It would seem that those X-ray machines the TSA is using to irradiate passengers with, would be put to better use examining the planes for cracks......

[Ezlivin]

1. We need LESS regulation and oversight!

Now's not the time to investigate.

Yeah, we'll be hearing this from the Republicans....

[DeSwiss]

2. Of course not!

And besides at 36,000 feet, just think about how great all that fresh unpolluted air is for one's health.

- Southwest should be charging their passengers extra for it.....

[DeSwiss]

3. ***Update***

Southwest Airlines: Cracks found in 2 more planes

By BOB CHRISTIE, Associated Press
April 3, 2011

YUMA, Ariz. – Inspectors have found small, subsurface cracks in two more Southwest Airlines planes that are similar to the cracks that caused a jetliner to lose pressure and make a harrowing emergency landing in Arizona, the airline said Sunday. The two planes will be evaluated further and more repairs will be undertaken before they are returned to service, Southwest said in a statement.

Nineteen other Boeing 737-300 planes inspected using a special test developed by the manufacturer showed no problems and will be returned to service. Checks on the remaining 58 jets will take several more days, the airline said. That means flight cancelations will likely continue until the planes are back in the air. About 600 flights in all were canceled over the weekend.

Friday's flight carrying 118 people rapidly lost cabin pressure after the Boeing 737-300's fuselage ruptured — causing a 5-foot-long tear — just after takeoff from Phoenix. Passengers recalled tense minutes after the hole ruptured overhead with a blast and they fumbled frantically for oxygen masks. Pilots made a controlled descent from 34,400 feet into a southwestern Arizona military base. No one was seriously injured.

The tear along a riveted "lap joint" near the roof of the plane above the midsection shows evidence of extensive cracking that hadn't been discovered during routine maintenance before Friday's flight — and probably wouldn't have been unless mechanics had specifically looked for it, officials said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110404/ap_on_re_us/us_southwest_flight_diverted">MORE