SWA Jet Makes Landing With Football Sized Hole

OtisAir

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http://flightaware.com/live/flight/SWA2294/history/20090713/2115Z/KBNA/KBWI

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/07/13/us.jetliner.damaged/index.html

(CNN) -- A Southwest Airlines jet made an emergency landing in Charleston, West Virginia, on Monday after a football-sized hole in its fuselage caused the cabin to depressurize, an airline spokeswoman said.
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Southwest Flight 2294 made an emergency landing at Yeager Airport in Charleston, West Virginia, on Monday.




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There were no injuries aboard the Boeing 737, which was traveling at about 34,000 feet when the problem occurred, Southwest spokeswoman Marilee McInnis told CNN.
The sudden drop in cabin pressure caused the jet's oxygen masks to deploy.
Southwest Flight 2294 was en route from Nashville, Tennessee, to Baltimore, Maryland, with 126 passengers and a crew of five aboard, McInnis said.
It landed at 5:10 p.m. after the crew reported a football-sized hole in the middle of the cabin near the top of the aircraft, McInnis said.
What caused the damage to the jet had not been determined, she said. Both the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the incident, FAA spokeswoman Holly Baker said.
"There is no responsible way to speculate as to a cause at this point," Southwest said in a statement Monday night.
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Watch as passenger describes watching the hole form »
"We have safety procedures in place, and they were followed in this instance to get all passengers and crew safely on the ground," the airline said. "Reports we have are that our passengers were calm and that our pilots and flight attendants did a great job getting the aircraft on the ground safely."
Southwest dispatched a replacement aircraft to take passengers on to Baltimore.
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See map of flight path »
Charleston airport spokesman Brian Belcher said a local pizzeria provided food for the passengers as they waited.
The damaged jet will remain on the ground there until federal inspectors can examine it, he said.
In addition, all 181 of Southwest's 737-300s -- about a third of the airline's fleet -- will be inspected overnight after the emergency landing, McInnis said. Southwest does not expect the inspections to create delays, she said.
 
What happened to speed restrictions? :)

Glad they made it through the *emergency* (hint) safely!
 
What happened to speed restrictions? :)

Glad they made it through the *emergency* (hint) safely!

I don't know, looks to me like they complied. You have to remember that flight aware sees their ground speed and the speed limit is based off indicated. Looks like they put the brakes on it at 11, then slowed even more before passing 10.

However, I suspect you're right; I don't think anyone would fault them for going a little quick after seeing this (from jetcareers):

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Great job to that crew!
 
I know it's early to speculate, but it seems to me like the aircraft may have been struck in flight by a cartoon football.
-harry
 
SW hole causes whole plane to divert!

Football sized hole caused pressure on SW after depressurization <g>.

Maybe they flew too low when someone below was going for a field goal! How would the refs call that one?

Best,

Dave

A Southwest Airlines jetliner headed for Baltimore-Washington International Marshall Airport made an emergency landing in West Virginia yesterday evening after a hole opened in the body of the plane and the cabin lost pressure, an airline spokeswoman said.


http://tinyurl.com/lcpk9z
 
Re: SW hole causes whole plane to divert!

Thanks Dave. But [thread=30125]already being discussed[/thread].

(Got to be really quick to scoop this crowd on any aviation news story! :))
 
Thanks Grant! I posted this on the run. Good to see it's already up.

What's all the fuss about? One passenger said they could see out the hole. Sounds like SW improved their view <g>

Best,

Dave
 
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