Inspectors find cracks in other Southwest aircraft

Friday, 04 Apr, 2011 0

Southwest Airlines is cancelling around 100 flights today as investigations continue into cracks discovered in its aircraft.

The airline grounded 79 planes for inspection and cancelled 600 flights over the weekend after an incident on Friday when a hole opened on top of a Boeing 737-300 during a flight.

The hole, 5 feet long and 1 foot wide, opened 18 minutes into the flight from Phoenix to Sacramento in California.

It caused the cabin to lose pressure and one flight attendant received minor injuries.

The pilot made an emergency landing at a military base in Yuma, Arizona.

According to a statement by the National Transportation Safety Board yesterday, investigators have now found indications of cracks in three other 737 aircraft.

The airline said inspections of the other aircraft were expected to be completed by late Tuesday.

"I could not be more proud of our maintenance and engineering professionals who supported Boeing and the FAA in the establishment of these new inspection procedures," said Mike Van de Ven, Southwest’s executive VP and COO.

"Boeing has since identified an inspection programme for this section of the aircraft. Based on this incident and the additional findings, we expect further action from Boeing and the FAA for operators of the 737-300 fleet worldwide."

He said Friday’s incident was a “new and unknown issue”.

We regret any customer inconveniences as a result of the inspections currently underway,” he added.

“Delays and cancellations are never the preference, however we are taking every precaution we can to ensure that our operation is safe."

The 118 passengers on board Friday’s flight were given a full refund and two complimentary round-trip passes on the airline for future flights.

By Bev Fearis

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Bev

Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.

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