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Two-foot hole appears in plane at 31,000 feet

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  • Two-foot hole appears in plane at 31,000 feet

    This is scary stuff --


  • #2
    Aviation Herald - News, Incidents and Accidents in Aviation
    Flickr |Airliners.Net | Airplane-Pictures.Net | Jetphotos.Net

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    • #3
      Looks like good old metal fatigue. The scary thing is that it should not have happened at all this happened to United 757 not to long ago too!!

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      • #4
        Wife and I were boarding a 747, TWA to Hawaii and I looked at the cracks and for real, almost asked the crew if they wanted me to at least stop drill them.

        I wish I was joking.
        Live, from a grassy knoll somewhere near you.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by guamainiac View Post
          Wife and I were boarding a 747, TWA to Hawaii and I looked at the cracks and for real, almost asked the crew if they wanted me to at least stop drill them.

          I wish I was joking.
          Where were the cracks and what did you observe.

          Some aircraft fly for years with cracks in composite secondary structure (I tried to find a relevant NASA report but failed).

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          • #6
            Right at the passenger loading door. We were probably "business class" first deck if that matters. Conventional aluminum skin.

            I was a Naval Air "tin bender" and "part time" hudrastics & tire changer for A-3's.

            Stop drilled a lot of holes and bucked a bucket of rivets.

            I was being forced to do this against my will. Actually it is a shock more aircraft stayed up (to the best of my knowledge), then screwed the pooch.
            Live, from a grassy knoll somewhere near you.

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            • #7
              Looks like scribbing damage.

              --- Judge what is said by the merits of what is said, not by the credentials of who said it. ---
              --- Defend what you say with arguments, not by imposing your credentials ---

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              • #8
                Scribbing?

                You have me by the sneakers? What does that mean?

                There are a lot of arcane definitions for rivet problems and failure and I forget most. Like .. "smoking" .. is I think the telltale residue from slightly loose rivets. Is that where you are going, or something like an improper repair?
                Live, from a grassy knoll somewhere near you.

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                • #9
                  AA 757 undergoes rapid-decompression due to hole in fuselage...

                  Passengers on a recent American Airlines flight from Miami to Boston experienced a much more vivid sense of airborne peril when a 2-foot hole opened up in the plane's fuselage about 30 minutes after takeoff.

                  The Boeing 757 was cruising at 31,000 feet Tuesday when the cabin began to decompress rapidly -- a "super-terrifying" experience, a passenger told WSVN-TV in Miami. The flight was carrying 154 passengers and six crew members.

                  Once the plane was on the ground, inspectors discovered the problem -- not that it was exactly easy to miss. A 2-foot-by-1-foot hole had opened just above the "A" of the logo near the plane's front left cabin door. Initial reports indicate that the plane probably took off with a smaller crack in the fuselage -- and that wind pressure caused it to expand after the jet's takeoff. However, investigators say that they have yet to isolate the precise cause of the hole. Both the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.

                  According to the Wall Street Journal, "industry officials said the incident ... bears some similarity to cracks found last month in the fuselage" of a United Airlines Boeing 757. A 1-foot hole also opened up on Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 when it was 30,000 feet in the air last year, causing pressure to drop and oxygen masks to be deployed, the Journal says.

                  I wonder what was the cause? Also, what systems are in place to prevent this from happening? Thank God that this turned out well...
                  Whatever is necessary, is never unwise.

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                  • #10
                    Other thread below on this. Botched repair or access panel?
                    Live, from a grassy knoll somewhere near you.

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by guamainiac View Post
                      Scribbing?

                      You have me by the sneakers? What does that mean?

                      There are a lot of arcane definitions for rivet problems and failure and I forget most. Like .. "smoking" .. is I think the telltale residue from slightly loose rivets. Is that where you are going, or something like an improper repair?
                      Maybe there's a typo (the right term seems to be "scribe line damage"), but I'm thinking of this:




                      --- Judge what is said by the merits of what is said, not by the credentials of who said it. ---
                      --- Defend what you say with arguments, not by imposing your credentials ---

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by AA 1818 View Post
                        I wonder what was the cause? Also, what systems are in place to prevent this from happening? Thank God that this turned out well...
                        No system whatsoever. The sky is flooded with deathtraps waiting to crack open like the proverbial sardine can. Just ask Evan.

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                        • #13
                          Is it possible that Evan is the alter ego of Erica Jong?

                          No? Sorry but it begged an answer.
                          Live, from a grassy knoll somewhere near you.

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                          • #14
                            Wow. One possibility could be from the pictures of the hole and reports being that it was near the cockpit that maybe a jet bridge, when the front top section comes to connects to the aircraft, may have come down a bit to hard and damage the haul, leading to being fatigue, and eventually bursting. I can only image how quick that aircraft descended, must have been several thousands of feet per minute and a bit scary for passengers. Sure strengthens the importance of paying attention when flight attendants and tv's go through the emergency procedures, which seems like most people ignore.
                            what ever happens......happens

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Curtis Malone View Post
                              No system whatsoever. The sky is flooded with deathtraps waiting to crack open like the proverbial sardine can. Just ask Evan.

                              Really??


                              Signatures are overrated

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