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Southwest flight diverted to Yuma after roof rips open

by Mary Shinn - Apr. 1, 2011 10:14 PM

The Arizona Republic-12 News Breaking News Team

A Southwest Airlines flight from Phoenix to Sacramento made an emergency landing in Yuma after the roof ripped open, passengers said.

Southwest Flight 812 left Sky Harbor Airport around 3:25 p.m. and landed safely at Yuma Marine Corps. Air Station at 4:07 p.m., said Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration.

A flight attendant was the only one to receive minor injuries, said Southwest Airlines spokeswoman Whitney Eichinger.

Passenger Brenda Reese said the top of the Boeing 737 ripped open, leaving a gaping hole between 5 to 6 feet long.

Reese said it sounded like an explosion when the top of the plane "popped off" and that passengers only had a few seconds to put their oxygen masks on. She said a few people passed out because they couldn't get to oxygen fast enough.

"The noise woke me up and instantly the mask dropped," Reese told 12 News. When she realized there was a hole in the plane, Reese thought, "God, bring me safely home to my three children."

Reese told The Republic that the pilot handled the emergency well, and passengers applauded him when he left the cockpit after the landing. Around 6 p.m. Reese said she was still on the plane at 6 p.m., awaiting another Southwest aircraft from Phoenix scheduled to take passengers to Sacramento by 8:30 p.m.

Another passenger, Larry Downey, told 12 News he was directly below the hole when it opened up.

"You could look out and see blue sky," Downey said.

He said a flight attendant didn't get an oxygen mask on fast enough and the man fell and hit his head. "It was pandemonium," Downey said.

The FAA reported pilot made a rapid descent from 36,000 feet to 11,000 feet after the hole opened.

Jim Tilman, an aviation consultant and longtime pilot, told 12 News the plane had to make a rapid descent to bring the passengers to breathable air. He said the hole in the plane would not have affected the pilot's ability to control the aircraft and that crew would have had plenty of time to get the plane down.

"The crews are very well trained to handle this," Tilman said.

An inspector from the FAA was on scene Friday night, Gregor said. Teams from the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the hole.