(Yes, SISU is very very very proud!!!)
Posted on 12/27/2005 6:34:42 PM PST by paulat
Hole found in Alaska plane
05:30 PM PST on Tuesday, December 27, 2005 KING5.com
Investigators: Problems spike after ramp work outsourced
SEATTLE – An Alaska Airlines plane was forced to return to Seattle Monday after a gash in the plane’s fuselage caused the aircraft to lose pressurization.
The incident began when a ramp worker hit the plane with a baggage cart or baggage belt machine, according to National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Jim Struhsaker.
The accident created a crease in the skin of the plane which opened up into a hole when the pressure on the plane changed at 26,000 feet.
The employee told the agency that although the vehicle had touched the plane, he was not aware that he had dented it.
“At that time in the driving rain it did not appear to be significant to him,” Stuhsaker said.
According to Alaska Airlines and accounts provided to KING 5 News by passengers, flight 536 took off from Sea-Tac at 3:50 p.m., bound for Burbank, Calif.
Alaska Airlines flight 536 was forced to return to Sea-Tac Monday after it lost cabin pressure. Passenger Jeremy Hermanns took this snapshot of the scene after the oxygen masks had dropped down.
About 10 or 20 minutes into the flight, there was a loud noise and the cabin lost pressure. The plane then descended rapidly before returning to Sea-Tac, said Caroline Boren, a spokeswoman for Alaska Airlines.
Passenger accounts of the incident paint a scary picture.
“I could feel that obviously my ears popping and that's not a good symbol and that didn't go away and then it got hard to breathe and then whoosh all the compression in the plane was lost. We totally decompressed,” said passenger Jeremy Hermanns.
He said everyone on board scrambled to get their masks on and then the engine noise became very loud.
“We knew that something was going on … it was definitely frightening. It wasn't something I wanted to do again,” he said.
Jeremy Hermanns shot this image of himself with his oxygen mask on after the plane he was on lost cabin pressure.
Hermann’s believes, nevertheless that the crew handled the situation well.
“I'm just very glad that the pilots and the crew and everybody handled it so well,” he said.
(Yes, SISU is very very very proud!!!)
That is very cool. I look forward to being called granddaddy, but not for a long long time.
That's not a puppy!
That's a kid!
Yikes!!!!!
Cute, for a kid!
You have every right. cute kid!
That would depend on how fast the aircraft descended to a lower altitude. They probably lost consciousness, but it's quite possible for them to survive if they weren't deprived of oxygen too long.
FYI...I haven't heard of any pet reports out of this yet...HairOfTheDog...have you?
Oh, man, what memories 'Western Airlines' brings back. I'm a native Californian (Oakland) and can remember their ads: cartoon bird, with legs crossed and reclining against the tail of an aicraft, taps ashes off cigar and pronounces, "Aahh, Western ... the only way to fly!"
Typically the ad was for a skier's special to Utah or Colorado. That was back in the late 50's, around the time PSA was getting rolling - PSA had the finest stews around, bar none. 
Composite even in areas around baggage hold doors and cabin doors? If so, seriously scary shit! I understand well how composites are becoming more and more common in all sorts of structural parts of a/c, but still ... I wouldn't mind a weight/material penalty where abuse is likely.
Those box cutters that the 9/11 terrorists used to hijack the planes? One strong theory is that they were smuggled onto the plane by people on the maintenence crew. When the planes were grounded and searched on 9/11, at least one more plane was found to have box-cutters stashed under the seats.
Box cutters were found on two planes grounded on September 11th. The box cutters were found under adjoining seat cushions on a flight out of Boston. Others were found in a trash bin on a plane bound from Atlanta to Brussels.
The problem with this policy is that it ensures that hitting a plane will not be reported. If I hit a plane and report it, I'm fired. If I hit a plane, and don't report it, and I'm not found out, then I retain my job. If I am found out, then I'm fired, but no worse off than if I had reported it. So the best strategy is to not report.
Ja, I'm sure Dashing. Go ahead and play the naif, but we who know of you know better
You know of me?
Do tell....
Wanna weep? $19.95 SFO - LAX, $21.95 SFO - SAN (Diego). That's what I remember from the PSA ads, ca. 1962.
A quick Orbitz peek shows $150 as the cheapest nowadays. On the other hand, gas was 31 cents a gallon back then, so who am I to complain?
Not my style; if you check my profile, you'll see I was a member of the 'Silent Service', so it's unlikely I'd ever tell a thing.
That said, I'm simply an admirer - you're an aerobatic artiste, and I'm simply able to get a small aircraft up into the air and back down again without major damage.
But I surely do have fun in the process.
Cool... I was worried you knew me better than I knew me.
I saw you were a flyer also ....
and a golfer.... I figured I couldn't do both successfully.
My golf game is pitiful.
Keep in touch - just don't scare me!
I'm not familiar with the latest design of the 787, but damage when loading cargo is a major concern with a composite fuselage as you can imagine. I am sure they have it figured out and will have improved ramp operations by the time the a/c goes into service.
Whiner! I'm about bogie and a half (95 +/- 10) so I consider my self 'out for the walk', rather than Tiger Sr.
Be careful up there, I want to enjoy your flying insights for many years to come.
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