Southwest plane forced into emergency landing

A hole the size of a football in the plane’s fuselage caused the cabin to lose pressure.

Travel Insurance News - 16/07/2009

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The aircraft landed safely at the Charleston, West Virginia airport, according to an airline spokeswoman.

Marilee McInnes, speaking on behalf of Southwest Airlines, said to CNN that reportedly no injuries were sustained in the incident on the Boeing 737, which had been flying at approximately 30,000ft when it experienced the loss of cabin pressure and oxygen masks were deployed.

Flight 2294 originated in Nashville and was on route to Baltimore, with 126 passengers and five crew members on board, the spokeswoman added.

At approximately 5:10pm the plane touched down in Charleston, with the flight crew reporting a football-sized hole in the top of the aircraft’s fuselage at around the midpoint of the cabin.

Holly Baker, speaking on behalf of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said that FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) had begun an investigation into the cause of the incident.

In a statement issued by Southwest on Monday evening, the carrier said: “There is no responsible way to speculate as to a cause at this point,” Adding: “We have safety procedures in place, and they were followed in this instance to get all passengers and crew safely on the ground.”

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