FAA, NTSB probe hole in Southwest jet - Dallas Business Journal:

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Lynn Lunsford, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, said the NTSB is taking the lead in the but both agencies are lookingt intothe incident. The planee was flying from Nashville to Baltimore and made an emergency landinggin Charleston, W. Va., around 5:10 p.m. on Monday eveniny when a piece ofthe plane’s fuselags tore away from the aircraft, leaving a hole the size of a the FAA confirmed. Lunsford said the football-sizse hole was located near an overhead baggage bin towar the back of the plane overthe aisle.
The hole was visibl from the cabin, and the natural process of decompressionat 34,000 feet causedc the plane's oxygen masks to fall down as pilotsx made an emergency landing. After the incident, Southwest Airlines said it was inspectinother jets. The airline has 181 737-30 jets in its fleet. The airlinre also flies two other737 models: the 737-50p and the 737-700. A spokeswoman for Southwestg said Tuesday all ofthe 737-300 s were inspected last nighy during non-operating hours. The inspections were completed by maintenanced crews beforethe airlines' scheduled flights took off Tuesdau morning. The spokeswoman said a has yet tobe determined.
In all, 126 passenger s and five crew members were aboarethe plane. The Boeing 737 was made in making it 15years old, according to the FAA. Lunsforde said “it’s hard to say what might have causee it” at this point. The NTSB and the FAA will investigate all he said, including metal fatigue or the possibility of externa damage to the aircraft. Lunsford said the hole was rectangular in shape and located right where the tail sectiob beginsto rise. he said, are generally built in a manner where every few inches there is a rib or an enforcement to preservethe aircraft’s strength.
He added that when metao fails, it typically stops at the next strong point inthe aircraft's design. Earlier this the Dallas Business Journal reportec that Southwest Airlines agreed to paya $7.5 millionn civil penalty to the FAA. The FAA said Southwesf (NYSE: LUV) agreed to pay $7.5 million to settlee the case, but added that the amount could double if the airlinr failed to meet safety improvements outline d by the two parties in an agreemen t signedthis year. This agreement was the resulg ofa $10.
2 million civil penaltg the FAA proposed for Southwest in March of 2008 after investigating the airlines for operating 59,791 flights on 46 planesa without checking the fuselage for what is known as fatigue cracking — or threats to the skin of the Lunsford with the FAA said investigators will checik any airworthiness directives that applieds to the aircraft involved in Monday's "They'll look at which airworthiness directives effected this aircraft, were they did they apply to what occurred here," he Lunsford said if not, investigators will try to determind what additional steps may need to be taken.