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Jet's rupture is under probe

The NTSB is examining why a 15-year-old Southwest Boeing 737 blew a hole in flight.

DALLAS - Federal safety officials are investigating how a foot-long hole opened in the top of a Southwest Airlines jet, forcing the Boeing 737 to make an emergency landing Monday in Charleston, W. Va.

The jet, bound from Nashville to Baltimore, lost pressure in the cabin, but none of its 126 passengers or five crew members was injured.

The plane was built in 1994, and government records indicated that a January inspection turned up eight cracks in the frame that required repairs.

Southwest said yesterday that it inspected all 181 of its Boeing 737-300-series jets overnight before putting them back in the sky. It found no cracks in any other jets, spokeswoman Marilee McInnis said.

Michael Cunningham, a passenger on the affected flight, told NBC's Today show that he had dozed off and was awakened by "the loudest roar I'd ever heard," and saw the hole above his seat.

He said people stayed calm and put on oxygen masks that dropped from the ceiling.

"After we landed in Charleston, the pilot came out and looked up through the hole, and everybody applauded, shook his hand," he said. "A couple of people gave him hugs."

Southwest said it was unclear what caused the hole, which ripped open just in front of the vertical tail fin as the jet cruised at 30,000 feet. It flew that way for nearly half an hour to Charleston.

The National Transportation Safety Board sent an investigator to interview the crew and examine maintenance and inspection records, but finding a cause could take months, said spokesman Keith Holloway.

In March, Southwest agreed to pay $7.5 million to settle charges that it operated planes that had missed required safety inspections for cracks in the fuselage.

The 137-seat 737-300 makes up about one-third of Southwest's fleet. All 544 of its jets are various models of the 737.

Experts said the tear could have been caused by damage from a dent or ding, or the jet's skin could have suffered from age-related fatigue. Jet cabins are pressurized and depressurized with each flight, which can cause tiny cracks over time.