Hole in Fuselage of Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-300 Forces Emergency Landing

Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-300 jet makes an emergency landing after a football-sized gash appears in the cabin on July 13, 2009. Flight 2294 was at 34,000 feet, en route from Nashville, Tennessee, to Baltimore, Maryland, when the incident happened. The plane landed in Charleston at 5:10 p.m. after the crew reported the sudden drop in cabin pressure, which caused the jet's oxygen masks to deploy.

There were 126 passengers and the five crew members on board on flight 2294, no injuries among
were reported. "There is no responsible way to speculate as to a cause at this point," Southwest said in a statement Monday night.

Both the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the incident.

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• July 13 2009
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[jpg0572]

-The plane took off at 4:05 EDT

-30 minutes into the flight the plane lost cabin pressure.

-Plane landed at 6:10 EDT in West Virginia.

If the plane was losing cabin pressure 30 mins after take-off, that would put the time at 4:35 EDT. It didn't land until 6:10. That's almost 2 hours later. Is that an emergency landing??

[CaptainFaisal]

nice catch!

[tiggerdt987]

wow

thank you for posting that!

[Ignantredneck]

Hey merideth, it wasnt a terrifying emergency landing, it was an uneventful diversion with alot of loud noise in the cabin. Stop hyping up every little incident and injecting fear into the hearts of americans you frigid fucking robot cunt.

[Ladiesman217n]

on record with the ntsb southwest airlines has had many incidents and non fatal landings only 1 fatality on 1 SW plane is on record

[Ladiesman217n]

its an emergency landing yes but there is a factor behind it 1 the small structural damage did not cripple the aircraft and 2 the aircraft was still flyable but could not fly above 10,000 feet. check out video for aloha 243 yes that was an emergency it was imperitive that they land. control surfaces were damaged they had to get down quick however this was not the case here the plane was still flyable it was in an emergency due to the decompressionbut the diverted to an airport of choice

[jwm239]

...what if it had been raining hard...?

imagine raindrops driven through the

hole at 500+ MPH. wow

[svbcna]

Oh the hole isnt big enough but it would have got bigger and bigger over the period of 2 hours?

[svbcna]

ok so basicly theres oxeygen up until about 11,000 feet when the oxeygen tanks run out its no basic problem but wouldnt everyone be ripped out because the seats are attached with screws?

[YoMomSaddam]

False. It is a lack of attention. You think that plane has all of the exact same panels and such that it had when it was first made? The maintenance on planes is vastly different from other modes of transportation such as cars. Airplanes are built to last nearly indefinitely - airplanes are repaired and parts are replaced all of the time with ease.  This problem was an oversight and was a maintenance issue. Learn more about aircraft before posting.

[YoMomSaddam]

Oxygen generators only last about 12 minutes, so when the masks come down that's all you have. The pilots dive to 10,000 feet where it is no longer necessary, so it's not a problem. Oxygen masks are very very temporary items in a plane.

[svbcna]

but the thing is wouldnt everyone have died after an hour due to they only have 3 - 4 tanks of oxeygen that dont last long? Anyway why would it take 2 hrs to find an airport with permission to land because there not gona go no u aint landing i like big stories of the crashes they would personally have to let them down and delay other planes right?

[Blade772]

I agree that the timing does seem off, but as an employee for Southwest, aircrafts cant just land at ANY airpost without permission by the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration). They needed to find the closest airport, then get granted permission to land first. So it's either the news media lying or the FAA. Take your pick

[Party931southFl]

smart!!!