The 1.5-meter-long gash that opened up in the upper cabin of Friday's Southwest Airlines Flight 812 from Phoenix to Sacramento will have a deep impact on the nature and frequency of commercial aircraft maintenance. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a directive on Tuesday ordering about 175 Boeing 737 aircraft—80 of which are registered in the U.S., most of those operated by Southwest—to be inspected using an electromagnetic device that can identify metal fatigue.The FAA is targeting Boeing 737 series 300, 400 and 500 aircraft that have accumulated more than 30,000 flight cycles (takeoffs and landings) in order to prevent a repeat of the April 1 incident. The fuselage of a 15-year-old Southwest Boeing 737–300 ruptured 18 minutes into the flight at an altitude of about 10,670 meters, forcing the pilots to make an emergency landing at Arizona's Marine Corps Air Station Yuma.
To read the full, original article click on this link: What Causes an Airline Fuselage to Rupture Mid-Flight? How Can This Be Prevented?: Scientific American
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