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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2009
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5

Southwest Probed After Hole Opens Midflight

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(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.

The airline was fined $7.5 million earlier this year for allowing planes to fly with fatigue cracks, and the same problem is suspected to have caused Monday's potentially catastrophic incident. "It does seems like fatigue to me, based on what I’ve learned,” said one expert. “I don’t think Southwest is an unsafe airline, but they’ve had some issues."

An investigator looks at a hole on top of a Southwest Airlines plane.
An investigator looks at a hole on top of a Southwest Airlines plane.   (AP Photo/The Charleston Gazette, Chris Dorst)
An investigator looks at a hole on top of a Southwest Airlines plane which had to make an emergency landing in Charleston, West Virginia on Monday.
An investigator looks at a hole on top of a Southwest Airlines plane which had to make an emergency landing in Charleston, West Virginia on Monday.   (AP Photo/The Charleston Gazette, Chris Dorst)
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5 comments
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Mr.C
Jul 15, 09 1:27 AM CDT
Southwest still gets the nod from me for being one of the only airlines to not charge me a fee for having checked luggage on domestic flights. Who wants to pay to take their clothes? Also they are doing flights as low as 30$ in October-Novermber. Reply
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kokuaguy
Jul 15, 09 2:52 AM CDT
Mr. C, a wise person once said-- you get what you pay for. Reply
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-3
oldgoat
Jul 15, 09 2:57 AM CDT
If their maint work is this poor I think it will be worth the extra money not to have to deal with a hole in the plane and trying out those pretty little masks. Reply
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-1
armywife
Jul 15, 09 4:12 AM CDT
expensive airlines have had troubles like these too, so i dont think that southwest's low airfares are necessarily a direct correlation to maintenance issues. we've been flying southwest for years in my family, so i hope they get this straightened out. Reply
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IN RESPONSE:
kokuaguy
Jul 15, 09 3:08 PM CDT
Hope you're right. Still, I'll probably choose United when possible.
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