FAA issues emergency directive after Southwest incident with hole in plane

PHOENIX - The Federal Aviation Administration says it will issue an emergency directive on Tuesday, requiring special inspections of early Boeing 737 aircraft models after a hole opened up on an aircraft during a Southwest Airlines flight Friday.

According to an FAA press release , the emergency regulations will affect approximately 175 aircraft around the world, including at least eighty US-registered aircraft, most of which are operated by Southwest Airlines.

The emergency directive will require some Boeing 737 models to undergo electromagnetic inspections for fatigue damage.

"Safety is our number one priority," said Ray LaHood, Transportation Secretary.

"Last Friday's incident was very serious and could result in additional action depending on the outcome of the investigation," he said.

More than one hundred inspection and repair records filed with the FAA reveal Friday's incident was not the first time a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 developed a hole in the aircraft mid-flight.

After searching through more than 100 Service Difficulty Reports on the Federal Aviation Administration website, the ABC15 Investigators discovered the plane involved in Friday's incident had been through a series of repairs for cracks in the fuselage as recently as March of 2010.

On March 1, 2010, inspectors found and reported cracks in the frame of the Boeing 737. Throughout that month, they found at least seven more instances of cracks in the fuselage. There were at least eight cases of cracks in the stringer clip - the part that helps hold the plane's skin together.
Records show all of the cracks were repaired.

Aviation experts say those types of cracks are common in older planes. The aircraft in Friday's incident was built in 1996.
 
In July 2009, another 15-year-old Southwest 737 had a similar mid-air incident during a flight from Nashville to Baltimore. A hole measuring more than a foot long opened up in the fuselage at 35,000 feet. Passengers grabbed oxygen masks while the pilot made an emergency landing. No one was hurt.

At that time, there were no inspection requirements for the specific types of cracks that were found, but Boeing later recommended inspections to detect cracks in the fuselage skin. The FAA later required those checks to find cracks on certain parts of the plane.