Southwest Airlines is inspecting a large number of their planes after a considerable hole was found on a plane during a flight to California.
Flight 812 had to make an emergency landing in Yuma, Ariz. after a hole opened up on the top of the plane. The hole was caused by a crack in the plane that was possibly missed in an inspection, according to Southwest’s press release.
Southwest cancelled 300 flights on April 2 to run inspections on the planes. Two other planes had similar cracks to the one on Flight 812, but no other damages have been found in the inspection.
“What we saw with Flight 812 was a new and unknown issue…we are taking every precaution we can to ensure that our operation is safe,” said Mike Van de Ven, Southwest’s executive vice president, in the press release.
University of Maryland students Rachel Bowers, sophomore, and Allie Gibeily, sophomore, agree that the incident is startling but seems rare.
“I feel unsafe. Generally flying doesn’t faze me but actually hearing about something is pretty alarming…but I would still fly Southwest. I’ve flown with them before and have always been pleased with their service,” said Gibeily.
Bowers parallels Gibeily’s sentiment. “Planes can be scary enough without a hole ripping in them. But I would probably still ride Southwest, I don’t see that happening again and you don’t have to pay to check your luggage!”