A six foot hole tore open in the roof of a Southwest airliner last Friday midflight, terrifying passengers who were on their way to Sacramento, CA from Pheonix, AZ. The pilot quickly made an emergency landing in Yuma, Arizona. No passenger was seriously injured although one flight attendant was slightly hurt. It was reported that the whole was caused by “fatigue cracks in the aluminum underskin of the lap joints,” according to the National Transportation Safety board.
Shawna Redden, an unfortunate passenger on the flight, was sitting just five rows in front of the huge rip. The frightened passenger said that the loss in cabin pressure was “hands down the scariest experience of my life.” But she did capture the experience and post it via social media.
Redden took pictures of the experience and posted them on her Twitter account, @BluestMuse. She used Twitpic to send pictures of the flight’s damages and air masks and communicate with journalists about the plane and passengers status.
Redden said recalled the experience saying it was an “explosion sound, then a rush of air. Masks dropped, and a woman screamed. Everyone else was calm. Pilot landed safely.” She did say that although the noise from the torn open plane was “super loud”, the flight crew “stayed calm and checked on everyone.”
The plane was a Boeing 737-300 and currently there are 931 worldwide, 288 of which are in the United States. According to the F.A.A., Southwest commented that the 737-300s are the oldest planes in their fleet. All planes of this model are being inspected and for hairline cracks that may lead to another incident.
It’s amazing how social media spreads the news before a news station can. Redden’s pictures capture more details of the terrifying experience than the average reporter would. If you were Redden, would you still fly? If so would you fly Southwest again? Would you have posted via Twitter or Facebook?
Click here to view more of her pictures.
