U.S. Airways Plane May Have Been Hit by Bullet
- Posted on March 29, 2011 at 4:30pm by
Jonathon M. Seidl
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WSOC-TV captured video of the hole, noted by a yellow marker above.
The hole near the rear of the plane was found after it arrived at Charlotte Douglas International Airport on Monday from Philadelphia. The airline said there were no apparent problems during the flight. Passengers who were going to be on the plane for its next flight were put on other flights, the airline said.
Michelle Mohr, a spokeswoman for US Airways Group Inc., said the airline called the FBI because “it looked like it could have been” a bullet hole.
“It’s very small,” she said. “This pilot has a heck of an eye.”
According to London’s Daily Mail, the thought is that a stray bullet is the most likely cause, but authorities have not reached a conclusive cause:
This has prompted speculation that the jet may have been hit by a falling stray bullet.
There is no evidence at this point the flight was targeted, according to CBS.
According to US Airways spokeswoman Valerie Wunder: ‘During a pre-flight inspection, one of our captains noticed a small hole in the fuselage. [...]
Amy Thoreson, an FBI spokeswoman in Charlotte, added: ‘The hole extended from the jet’s skin into the cabin.
‘We have a lot of physical territory to cover before we can find out how it happened, where it happened and when it happened.’
Mohr said the hole in the Boeing 737 is being repaired and the plane will return to flying on Wednesday. The plane seats 144 people, although it wasn’t clear how many were on the flight from Philadelphia on Monday.
Transportation Safety Administration spokesman Jon Allen said his agency is cooperating with the FBI investigation. Charlotte airport director Jerry Orr and the FBI did not return messages Tuesday.
Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said Tuesday that her agency also will ensure the aircraft is airworthy before it’s put back in service, although that doesn’t mean an FAA inspector will physically check the plane, she said.
“The airline has the mechanics. They have the manuals. They have skills and capability and authority to do those repairs. They do the required record keeping and then we can inspect that if necessary,” she said.
Besides bullets, holes can be caused by metal fatigue or lightning. In October, a cabin lost air pressure when a hole ripped open in the fuselage of an American Airlines flight from Miami bound for Boston. In that case, the pilot had to make an emergency landing.
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Comments (57)
Parnell3rd
Posted on March 30, 2011 at 12:36amAnother report from CBS Philly says “stray bullet, not an act of terrorism”. I‘m sorry I’m not buying either story.
Report Post »Salamander
Posted on March 31, 2011 at 4:49pmActually, it’s more likely a meteor! (But, FBI already reported it found the bullet!)
Report Post »TheGreyPiper
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 10:33pmOmg see what the gun nuts are doing now?!?!? Time to repeal teh second ammenment progressive bruthas!
Report Post »super six four
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 8:40pmI know…I know..some gun owning right wing radical who listens to talk radio did it.
Report Post »Taxpayer550
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 8:32pmIf it was a bullet, where is it? If it penetrated the fuselage, it should be lodged in the structure or in the cabin.
Report Post »psycodad36
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 8:45pmit probably fell into an open carryon and got lost amongst the knives that were in it,
Report Post »Salamander
Posted on March 31, 2011 at 4:47pmSubsequent news states the FBI found the bullet! Interestingly, there were no particulars, such as caliber, condition of round, etc. Maybe they are keeping that secret while they are checking all legal gun registrations (wouldn‘t it be nice if they could check the ’illegal gun registrations’?)
Report Post »psycodad36
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 7:53pmIt was NOT me.nobody saw me and you can’t prove nothing.and besides,I’m saving my ammo for non civilian uses
Report Post »quicker
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 7:51pmI`d try it but my fingers don`t type so fast .Hard to get my brain into overdrive after a long day in the plants.
Report Post »jim
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 6:59pmProbably flew into LAX over South Central during Cinco de Mayo. Happens all the time…
Report Post »foobear
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 6:49pmAt US Airways, getting a complete fuselage costs $40 extra.
Report Post »82dAirborne
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 7:12pmEach leg of the trip.
Report Post »Salamander
Posted on March 31, 2011 at 4:45pmIt‘s a good thing it wasn’t KLM, in flight! The pilot would have just stuck his finger in it and had the copilot go warn the villagers!
Report Post »piper60
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 6:12pmI wonder how many other airliners have bullet holes in them. They are lucky they did not de-compress.
Report Post »drvens
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 6:05pmA stray, in Philly?! No, surely not!!!! It’s such a safe place to live!
Report Post »speleothem
Posted on March 30, 2011 at 4:09pmNo kidding. It would probably be easier to make a list of things in Philly that don’t have bullet holes in them
Report Post »Lucent
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 5:34pm@ 82dairborne
Thanks for the great idea of conversing with the libs at media matters. So fellow patriots, I’m to sign up for Media Matters, this will be FUN!!!
Report Post »82dAirborne
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 5:40pmTo be completely fair I stole the idea from a fellow Blaze poster.
Report Post »Salamander
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 5:14pmOh, duh! Doesn‘t ANYBODY recognize a ’radiation hole’ when they see one! Clearly this was radioactive debris, maybe a hydrogen pellet, from Fukushima, coming down over Philadelphia!
Report Post »82dAirborne
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 5:21pmI guess you think you are funny – spreading lies like that? The pellet obviously arced over San Francisco and then Ann Arbor.
Get the facts straight.
Report Post »marine249
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 7:20pmSHOW
I don’t see anyone should be 1st or not.
I made it one time if others want to be 1st try try again
82nr
sounds like a lot fun.
I hope you had fun at it.
I may try later myself.
Report Post »Salamander
Posted on March 31, 2011 at 4:39pm82nd Thanks for your ‘correction’! Frankly, given the size of the hydrogen explosions at the several NPPs at Fukushima, I wouldn’t be surprised if a fuel pellet followed your trajectory (after all, didn’t the Kennedy bullet change directions a few times as it was changing history?) Gosh, in the first H2 explosion, I believe in Fukushima Dai-ichi Unit One, you can see the spherical shockwave out to maybe 1,500 feet as the building blew apart, mostly horizontally! In the second, I believe it may have been Unit Three (the one fueled with MOX), I could not believe the amount of material falling out of the vertical burst! And, it was BIG stuff, and CLEARLY with a lot of mass!!! Literally, tons of massive equipment launched to maybe 1,000 feet without the benefit of a ‘barrel’ to focus the energy! I just feel so badly for these guys–it will turn out that the cause was NOT the direct effects of the earthquake nor tsunami, but something as simple as a common-mode diesel fuel storage tank that had ‘settled solids’ put back into suspension by the earthquake shaking and displacement, only to clog the fuel filters of ALL backup generators and pumps an HOUR AFTER the earthquake main event, and maybe 45 minutes AFTER the tsunami secondary event! With the failure of instrumentation, the problem wasn’t recognized for what it was and corrective measures were not taken! It will turn out that they were watching the dangerous stuff while the benign stuff bit ‘em in the ass! This is a design and a contingency management problem and I hope people are mature enough to learn from the mistakes and not dismiss nuclear power out of hand!
Report Post »campt1
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 5:12pmI am surprise the Alphabet news hasn’t blamed it in hunters.
Report Post »Salamander
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 5:10pmMaybe it was one of those ‘victory rounds’ coming down from Libya! I ALWAYS wondered where all that lead went! The Arabs, clearly, don’t know about gravity!
Report Post »9thCommandment
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 5:09pmI think the Southwest “Bags Fly Free” Posse stepped over the line.
Report Post »Salamander
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 5:06pmHmmm, he didn’t get that one buzzing sheep!
Report Post »Its Gonna Getcha
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 4:56pmMy God what a good eye. Thank you to the angels that nudged him.
Report Post »Marylou7
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 4:52pmThat’s getting a little too close to home. Yikes!! I fly US Airways consistently.
Report Post »count_me_in
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 4:48pmGotta love a pilot that does his own inspection!!! Nice work Airman…
Report Post »commonsenseguy
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 5:10pm@count-me-in, you are right,at least we know that he is doing what he suppose to do ,his job,not wait for the unions to inspect the planes,way to go,we need more to do their jobs and not blame evreyone else .
Report Post »dmforman
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 5:19pmI’d get on his plane any time. Sounds like a great pilot!
Report Post »Tyr
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 4:48pmSomeone just beyond the approach or departure end of the runway with a high powered rifle. The Somalis‘ loved to do that in Mogadishu back in ’92.
Report Post »sooner12
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 4:40pmUh-Oh, here comes the anti-gun crowd.
Report Post »TERMLIMITSNOW
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 4:39pmCould have been anything I suppose, why a bullet?
Report Post »chickenlittle
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 4:54pmIf they wanted to, they can determine for sure if it was a bullet. Even if it was through-and-through, a bullet is going to leave residue. Are they really serious about finding out?
Report Post »SELFSUPPORT
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 4:38pmIf it was at altitude thats over a 6000. yard shot.
Report Post »RepubliCorp
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 4:48pmor on the runway…….? Or in the hanger
Report Post »butler180
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 4:36pmHow come this news is not surprising.
Report Post »Is this a ploy to enact gun control? Someone unhappy with the airline? Someone being really stupid?
Take your pick.
Showtime
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 4:34pmThat’s scary!
Report Post »Good eye!
Anonymous T. Irrelevant
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 4:40pmIt could have been there for a good while. No telling when it happened or where.
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 4:43pmAnd people wonder why I do not fly anymore?
There was a story in an old Readers Digest one time of a sheep rancher who kept complaining of the navy and air force jets buzzing his heard, and the authorities kept saying he is just nuts. Until one of them wound up with a rifle round in the fuselage; when they tried to prosecute him the lawyer of his explained simply this…
“If the planes were NOT flying so low and endangering the health of his flocks, then how could he have shot the plane in the first place?”
Someone doing such a shot would need to be at fairly close range to get the hit, or simply one very lucky shot.
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 4:50pmShowtime:
I have read some of todays earlier postings and it looks like there are some folks upset with you for being the first to post on any article…so, welcome to the club and the jungle. Nice to see I am not the only one it happens to.
And yes, that piolet has a good eye to spot such a small hole in the plane.
Report Post »82dAirborne
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 4:50pmGlad the pilot spotted the hole. Although it could probably fly safely with dozens of small holes in the fuselage.
Had some fun this afternoon. I created an account at media matters. Posted there pretty much as I do here. Didn’t get the same reception. They do not take kindly to differing opinions!!!! To say the least.
Report Post »RepubliCorp
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 4:54pmIt could of came from a gun sold to drug dealers by the Obama admin……….
Report Post »For the anti-gun crowd out there.
Showtime
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 4:56pm@SNOW -
At least I’m not Broker!
Report Post »They’re just having a good time kidding me about it.
I have apologized. CatB saved me on the one about the sting ray.
chickenlittle
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 4:59pm@ 82nd… Now that sounds fun …and maybe more productive than preaching to the choir, as we tend to do here. I tried a liberal site once… it got terribly boring listening to constant lies and mindless ideology though. Man, those people get going on hate at the drop of a mere fact or two.
Report Post »sissykatz
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 5:08pm@82
Report Post »Good luck over there and don’t stay too long, we like you here and we don’t want you to catch anything over there. lol
mrsmileyface
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 5:45pmI dont wonder snow I practice it too. Let the birds fly I stay on the ground TVYM.
Report Post »right-wing-waco
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 5:54pmMaybe someone thought Obama was on tat plane.
Report Post »sleazyhippo
Posted on March 30, 2011 at 9:38amAs was predicted in long ago texts, Bill and Gail have not so much to do all day, you see.
Report Post »Trance
Posted on March 30, 2011 at 12:08pmI’ve seen bullet holes in planes before (737′s). It happens sometimes. I don’t recall the FBI being called when it happened, but maybe it just didn’t get spread around. We’d just repair the hole, and be done with it.
Report Post »right-wing-waco
Posted on March 30, 2011 at 1:09pmLooking at the place the hole is, it would be pretty hard to have happened in the air. My guess is that it happened before take-off or at landing and taxi time.
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