Justin026

We will all have to hope that doesn't happen! Here was the response of the affected corporate culture(s) to the ValuJet crash:

1. ValuJet was shut down for months and never flew much of its old schedule again.

2. The ValuJet name was abolished and the merger partner's (AirTran) name was adopted instead.

3. The entire fleet of old planes was retired and completely replaced with all newly built planes.

4. Entirely new management and ownership.

The copied-from-SWA cabin, uniforms and boarding procedures of ValuJet were also replaced with new legacy-style arrangements at the new AirTran, but that is for other threads.

Justin026

It is good to know that these remedial procedures are being done with the advice of your partners. I wouldn't have thought otherwise.

But what does that have to do with my post?

lougord99

Are you concerned that no other airline is doing these tests on any of their planes? Are you concerned that every airline is not doing tests that are possible to do on every one of their planes?

plagwate

As Justin026 points out, I don't think it's valid to assume that ValuJet's corporate culture was ever carried forward into AirTran.

UnitedEF

And yet WN still ended up with this mess. Interesting.

toomanybooks

"Widespread cracking" found on Southwest plane

"National safety inspectors have found evidence of "widespread cracking" and fatigue on the fuselage of a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 that made an emergency landing in Arizona with a hole in the cabin, a government official said on Sunday."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110403/...ines_southwest

SWABrian

I'm sorry, I misread your question Justin. I'm not an aeronautical engineer or a Mechanic, but there are service directives in place that have various levels of continued inspections, based on problems reported by Boeing, Southwest, or the various operators around the world. (Almost every airframe type in service is covered by these Airworthiness Directives, which are very specific as to type of aircraft and parts involved.) There will be additional information coming from the investigation, and I hope everyone will keep an open mind.

N830MH

Yes, do you remember what happened Valujet crashes into Everglades near MIA. It was all fatalities and unfortunately, it was tragic news for all passengers & the crew didn't survivors. When the DC-9 is returned back to MIA due to smokes inside the cargo hold. All entire DC-9 is grounded for more than 3 months.

formeraa

+1

That was certainly my impression of the events at the time. My understanding was that everyone and everything was replaced.

danielonn

A similar incident happened in 2009. Why did this happen again just shy of two years? If Southwest was really serious about this incident why didn't they ground their planes after the first incident? If they are defending their mechanical records stating that they have good safety record then what can they backup their evidence with?

While the accidents did not result in the death of passengers or crew it did cause medical conditions as a result of the rapid decent. If there was some method to check for cracks both inside and out as part of the pre-flight briefing at least they would be less chances of this happening. Southwest should be required to retire their 737-300s as other jets could have the same issues.

At this point safety is our utmost concern. Should we stop flying Southwest and fly on US Airways, United etc? Do we stop flying all together? Do you think the free checked luggage no fees for changing tickets is a gimmick? The airfares on Southwest are more expensive for a reason to pay for the old jets that they fly.

If US Airways flies the Airbus 319,320 and Continental has the 737-800,737-900s then Southwest needs to start flying the newer 737s and get rid of the 15 year old planes. Its just like an old car which can have so many issues and can pose a safety threat to the driver and passengers. If the FAA was strict they would impose a cutoff on how old a plane is before it retires.

How is Southwest going to renew my confidence to fly with them? We as a nation need to protest silently by not flying Southwest until they get their act together. The lines were long at PHX Airport as stranded passengers tried to get home. I spoke with some passengers and they said that Southwest only gave them $10 or for them to rebook and get refunded later etc. So many horror stories from Southwest agents taking no action to a meager compensation.

I would not be surprised if Southwest goes bankrupt as a result of this as passengers have other choices which would be less expensive to get to their destinations. I am sure the passengers on the flight would not fly on the airline again. The crew did a good job to land the plane safely.

The other major issue is that some oxygen masks were not working. This is quite concerning if there was a selfcheck system and a display showing which rows of masks needs to be fixed or replaced that would help so the crew knows the masks work.

Please feel free to comment. These comments are strictly my own opinion and I am open for a heated discussion about why you would or wouldn't continue to patronize Southwest.

fireworksboy

And there's more out there:

"Cracks found in 3 more Southwest Airlines planes, similar to those on torn-open plane"

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nati...en_plane_.html

UALOneKPlus

Yes of course I would patronize Southwest, why wouldn't I? Southwest has a superb safety record, no mass loss of lives and no plane crashes, unlike other airlines that has no such enviable safety record.

WN was following all FAA and Boeing directed maintenance schedules and services, when this happened. This was something not even BOEING predicted to happen, and they BUILT THE DAMN THING!

Flying WN is still far safer than almost any other mode of travel, and for me the most convenient for business travel for long distances.

If you want 100% guarantee of safety, and want WN to do ALL POSSIBLE safety checks, including replacing the entire plane every single flight with another brand new plane, are you prepared to pay $1 million or more per ticket? Absolute safety is achievable, if you have the budget of NASA (too bad even NASA has had terrible tragedies R.I.P. brave astronauts ).

For any sane traveler out there today, yes there is concern, but let's be realistic and weigh the cost of everything rather than getting all worked over something that was outside the control of WN.

UALOneKPlus

Thanks for the updates Brian. As a frequent traveler on WN I fully anticipate WN to do everything within its power to rectify the findings and make safety a #1 priority, as always.

UALOneKPlus

Very interesting. Thanks for the info.

Phoenix to Sacramento can't take a direct path because of Area 51?

Justin026

If this is a test that can be done rapidly and it gives an indication such as: "this plane is OK and this plane isn't" then yes I am concerned. I am not sure that is the case here, but SWA is giving us the running tally -- it will take them four days to do the entire set of these tests of this group of 81 planes. And these aren't long odds looking for a needle in a haystack -- we have three planes failing this test as of this morning. I don't like 3 out of 81 as odds when I fly. I like one in millions better.

But SWA might have an extra responsibility in this since they have this very large fleet of the older model plane with which they practice a cost model based on high hours and multiple takeoffs and landings every day--they are proud of the high cycles and high hours on their planes. Also, they supposedly know the 737 like no one else. So they should be industry leaders in doing this -- rapid -- test.

How about let's pick out the next 100 younger planes and do the test for another five days or so, until the fail rate goes to zero. Am I missing something?