Southwest Airlines: Hole in Plane = Bad

F My Life: It's Funny, It's True, Except When It Happens to You

Details are slowly emerging this afternoon regarding that Southwest Airlines emergency landing in Charleston, West Virginia last night.

According to various accounts (and the photo below), a one-by-one-foot hole opened up in the roof of the Boeing 737-300 while the flight was traveling between Nashville and Baltimore / Washington International airport (BWI). It looks like the hole opened up directly in front of where the tail section attaches to the top of the aircraft.

The photo below was taken by a passenger, using his Blackberry.

According to a post on the Southwest website...

"The aircraft cabin depressurized approximately 30 minutes into the flight, activating the passengers’ onboard oxygen masks throughout the cabin. Medical personnel in Charleston assessed passengers and no injuries are reported. Southwest Airlines is sending its maintenance personnel to Charleston to assess the aircraft, and the airline will work with the NTSB to determine the cause of the depressurization. According to initial crew reports, the depressurization appears to be related to a small-sized hole located approximately mid-cabin, near the top of the aircraft."

The airline apparently began an emergency inspection of all of its 737-300s last night. Not much more information this morning on just which aircraft were inspected or if that inspection process is continuing this morning.

Here is the photo of the hole in the plane...