Passengers tell of their terror as three-foot hole explodes above their heads in plane's cabin at 3

How scary would that be,apparently not terror related but what did cause it then?

* Three-foot hole appeared in roof of cabin at 36,000 feet
* Passengers said it sounded like a 'gun-shot' before oxygen masks dropped down
* Two fainted as pressure dropped and cabin descended into 'pandemonium'
* Plane landed safely with only minor injury to flight attendant
* Southwest Airlines blaming an 'in-flight fuselage rupture' while FBI stress it was 'not a terror attack'

Southwest Airlines passengers have said they are lucky to be alive and spoken of their terror the moment a three-foot hole 'exploded' in their plane's fuselage, forcing them into a terrifying descent and emergency landing.

The Southwest Flight 812 from Phoenix to Sacramento, with 118 passengers on board, descended into chaos at 36,000 feet when a bang that sounded like a 'gun-shot' tore through the cabin, sending terrified passengers reaching for oxygen masks that dropped in front of them.

As cabin pressure dropped dramatically, a passenger and flight attendant passed out, banging their heads in the process, while others watched in fear.

Video on daily mail web site Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk...

Meteorites perhaps? Don't want to panic the public away from flying maybe?

From Armageddon movie, Start at 3:13...

You need a great deal of force to make a big hole in a plane.


Planes aren't made to just suddenly get a hole! Maybe if there was an electrical fire, lightening or something like that.

Did everyone read the answer - they are not sure what caused the hole but the know it's not terrorism! How can they rule it out if they don't know the cause?

reply to post by Daughter2


Metal fatigue, gone unnoticed in regular "heavy" maintenance inspections ('D' Checks).

Cycles. A 'cycle' is defined as one "flight", a take-of and landing.

Modern airliners are tracked by both total numbers of hours in use, and numbers of "cycles". A cycle is more stressful, over time, on the airframe. Not only the stresses of take-offs and landings, but the pressurization cycles too, for each flight.

Southwest airlines (originally) was a very short-haul air carrier...so its fleet was subjected to many cycles. Compared to, say....airliners that make flights that last longer....long-hauls, less frequently on a daily basis.

The FAA will be all over this, looking into that one airplane's maintenance history...AND Boeing, too. ONE thing I would first look at is the history of any past "hard landing" incidents. Anytime such a thing occurs.....usually a professional flight crew will "write it up" in the Logbook, which prompts Maintenance action, and inspection. BUT, things can get overlooked.....people are only Human.

Also, I will reckon that the breach happened at the joint, where the fuselage segments are mated together, in the assembly process.

(The fuselages for the B-737 are built in Wichita....each section is built, then they are connected together, the proper number to achieve the desired fuselage length. The cockpit and tail sections are distinct, and just attached as appropriate too, of course).

Here, a video showing what they look like, when still loaded onto the railcars that transport them from Kansas to the final assembly in Washington, near Seattle. You can see the joints, before it is painted with the airline paint scheme:




Final assembly in Renton (for further understanding of the processes involved):




Article on the contractor in Wichita:

www.spiritaero.com...

reply to post by weedwhacker


Thanks for that post very informative. I guess time will tell and they will no doubt get to the bottom of it soon. Just hope they learn from it and don't put profit before safety.