News, Southwest Inspects Planes After Hole Opens in Flight. (airlines, flights, old)

[John1960]

Steve Hall of Murfreesboro, Tenn., was talking football with his fellow passengers Monday on a flight from Nashville to Baltimore when suddenly they were interrupted by what Hall described as "a very loud pop."

Southwest Inspects Planes After Hole Opens in Flight - ABC News

[Chava61]

Southwest paid a fine recently for not doing enough inspections of its planes.

[South Range Family]

That thing popped open nice and straight like a pull tab. I think that they are going to find that somebody used a scribe, or a razorblade when they shouldn't have. I wouldn't be surprised if it was an outside contractor that does their paint jobs.

[wheelsup]

Originally Posted by South Range Family

That thing popped open nice and straight like a pull tab. I think that they are going to find that somebody used a scribe, or a razorblade when they shouldn't have. I wouldn't be surprised if it was an outside contractor that does their paint jobs.

The only airline I know of that owns a paint shop is ExpressJet (CAL express). Even most routine mx is contracted out these days.

[South Range Family]

Originally Posted by wheelsup

The only airline I know of that owns a paint shop is ExpressJet (CAL express). Even most routine mx is contracted out these days.

We use paint contractors in Lakeland, Florida and Roswell New Mexico. I would guess that Southwest uses the Roswell company too. I met one of their mechanics in Airbus school. He said that they only have 6 licensed mechanics. The rest are all "painters".


Several years back, the company in Florida ran a razor down the length of the lap joint on one of our 737's. We had to strip the paint in that area, and apply a clear coat to enable a continuous inspection program. The skin was replaced at the next Q check.

[South Range Family]

Originally Posted by Chava61

Southwest paid a fine recently for not doing enough inspections of its planes.

Those fines, and inspections were for a very specific area that is nowhere near this hole that opened up. It was also a chain of planning, and scheduling errors that caused those fines. The airline was actually lead to believe that they were in compliance with the inspections.


The headline from this article tries to make you think that it was the same area as before, then goes on to state that they are two completely different zones that have nothing to do with each other.

The most interesting part is the second to last paragraph. Let me correct a small statement that they make. It was not mechanics that used the razors. It was untrained, unlicensed "painters" that barely speak English.

Inquiry into Southwest Airlines jet's hole may hinge on rule that carrier previously violated | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Dallas Business News

[stacylee926]

A month ago we flew SW from Norfolk to Chicago (final was Las Vegas). Flight was supposed to leave at 6:45 am. They boarded half the plane then stopped. After several announcements by the pilot, it was determined that there was a 'dent' in the plane. So they had to bondo the dent, let it dry then sand it down. All very odd to me.... this little problem resulted in us finally arriving in LV 7 hrs later than scheduled after 2 missed flights and a 2nd connection added to the schedule. All in all, the airline was decent - except in Phoenix. However, at that point we were all very tired and sick of the whole situation so we may have been a little grumpy .

[South Range Family]

To fill a dent like that on a live airplane right before a departure tells me that the dent was in the RVSM area. That is at the front of the plane surrounding the pitot tubes, and the static ports. It absolutely has to be perfectly smooth in that area to keep the instruments accurate. RVSM stands for Reduced Vertical Separation Minimums. That was a way for the FAA to turn a 4 lane highway into an 8 lane superhighway. The instruments have to be more accurate than planes that are not RVSM certified.

It was most likely dented by the jetway being parked against the airplane too roughly. Your dent was filled with high strength epoxy adhesive. The metal skin will be cut out, and a flush repair will be installed at the next heavy maintenance visit. If the dent was anywhere else, it would be checked for sharp creases, or cracks, be put on the damage file, and then be repaired at the next maintenance visit. It would not have been filled.

[stacylee926]

That dent was near the wing (right behind it and the left side) because my daughter watched them fix it. All in all it was just strange when the pilot said they were filling the dent with bondo so we could fly.

Well, we made it safely.

[South Range Family]

Would you say it was within 4, or 5 feet of the wing?

That area is covered by a fiberglass wing fairing. It won't dent. It punctures like a piece of plastic. I could see them filling that area with epoxy too.