Feds Order Emergency Checks of 80 Planes

NTSB finds fatigue cracks along tear in Boeing 737's skin

(NEWSER) - A federal investigation has revealed possible manufacturing flaws behind the mid-flight fuselage rupture of a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 earlier this month. National Transportation Safety Board probers have discovered that rivet holes on one layer of the 15-year-old aircraft's skin did not line up properly with the layer below, reports the Wall Street Journal. More»

Efficient short-haul operations may have contributed to rupture

(NEWSER) - Southwest Airlines may be a victim of its own efficiency. The airline's much-touted short-haul operations require each plane to fly an average of six times a day, and the stress of all those landings and take-offs may be partially to blame for the cracks found in some of their older 737s, the LA Times reports. The plane forced to make an emergency landing in Arizona, for example, is 15 years old. More»

(NEWSER) - Southwest Airlines' maintenance practices are coming under tight scrutiny after a football-sized hole opened in the top of a Boeing 737 midflight and forced an emergency landing, reports the Dallas Morning News. Nobody was injured, but the NTSB and FAA have launched probes and lawmakers are being briefed on the investigation. More»

Some worry short timetable endangers other aircraft, privacy

(NEWSER) - Thousands of small drones could take wing across the US following a Federal Aviation Administration decision next month. Police departments have been snapping up the unmanned aircraft, whose cameras could be used for everything from missing-person searches to catching drug dealers. Now law enforcement is waiting on the FAA to lay out rules for using the drones—guidelines that must be set by May 14 under a February law signed by President Obama. More»

Meanwhile, airline grounds 79 planes, cancels hundreds of flights

(NEWSER) - Fatigue cracking has been found along the entire 5-foot section of a Southwest Airlines jet that ripped open on Friday, forcing an emergency landing in Arizona. The NTSB says that mechanics will cut a 9-foot by 3-foot section of the plane and send it to Washington, DC, for testing. Southwest has responded by grounding at least 79 planes, reports the AP; at least 300 flights were canceled yesterday. More»