Saturday, October 30, 2010
Associated Press
DALLAS
Investigators are looking into what caused a hole to rip open in the fuselage of an airline jet as it cruised at 31,000 feet, causing a loss of cabin air pressure and forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing.
The 1-foot-by-2-foot hole opened in the roof shortly after American Airlines Flight 1640 took off from Miami bound for Boston on Tuesday night.
A man aboard the plane said passengers panicked after oxygen masks were released and the pilot put the jet into a sharp descent.
“It was pretty chaotic and confusing. It just was kind of surreal. We kind of looked at each other when the masks came from the ceiling and thought, ‘This is it,’” said Edward Croce, 34, of Braintree, Mass.
Croce tried to send a goodbye text message to his son back home, but his hands were shaking uncontrollably.
The pilot guided the Boeing 757 back to Miami, and none of the 154 passengers and six crew members was injured, according to American.
Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said Friday that an inspection of the plane revealed a hole in the upper part of the fuselage near a cabin door toward the front of the plane.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.
American Airlines spokesman Tim Smith said the airline has assigned a team of engineers and maintenance technicians to look at the aircraft. He said American has talked to Boeing, the NTSB and the FAA. The airline took the plane out of service.