Originally Posted by
username
Oh my! This could have been disasterous - especially it is so close to the tail (Is it mid cabin? The photo seems to show it is really close to the tail)! Remember that Aloha 737? I am glad it landed safely and no one got hurt!
IIRC, the Aloha plane's fuselage was subjected to extremely salty conditions causing corrosion (Hawaii) and numerous changes in pressure (going up to altitude and coming down) due to inter-island flights.
While Southwest doesn't fly its aircraft in areas where there is a lot of salt exposure in the air, I do believe I heard the -300's are used mostly in Texas where the routes are shorter (even taking into account the size of Texas).
It will be interesting to see what the NTSB determines what was the cause.
Great job by the pilots and crew to get the bird down safe. Great job by the passengers not to panic.