Cabin Walls Come Off On American Airlines Flight
Footage captures the walls coming loose on an American Airline's flight while the captain says that everything seems alright in the cockpit!
Footage captures the walls coming loose on an American Airline's flight while the captain says that everything seems alright in the cockpit!
Passengers watched in horror and screamed for help from flight attendants when a plane’s cabin walls cracked loose on a flight from San Francisco to Dallas on Monday.
James Wilson said passengers on the American Airlines flight knew something was wrong when they felt the fuselage begin to shake violently and heard popping noises outside the Boeing 757 shortly after take-off.
Astonished travellers feared the plane would crash as interior panels on both sides of the cabin pulled apart from the walls, exposing insulation, and they felt a change in cabin pressure due to a possible blown air duct.
Mr Wilson, from Kyle, Texas, told the Associated Press: ‘It was the whole Row 14 on all sides, from the floor to the ceiling. It sounded like it was popping and banging so loud at first I thought stuff was coming out of the overhead compartments.
The 32-year-old race car driver, who was seated in Row 16, said crew members were ‘pulling the panels apart and looking for daylight behind there.’
Fearing the worst, he posted photographs on his Facebook page and sent text messages to his wife, who was supposed to meet him in Dallas, so she would know what happened in case of a crash.
He wrote on Facebook: 'American Flight 2293 depressurized and started coming apart mid air. Please pray for us.'
His anxious friends tracked the aircraft’s flight path online and posted updates and encouraging messages after the plane aborted its journey.
Despite concerns from fearful passengers, the captain announced that Flight 2293 would continue to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport because the cabin pressure was stable.
But he soon changed his mind after exiting the cockpit and seeing the damage for himself. The plane turned around near the California-Nevada boundary and made an emergency landing in San Francisco, where it was met on the tarmac by firefighters.
None of the 184 passengers or six crew was injured.
Mr Wilson was able to board another flight and return home late Monday night.
American Airlines spokesman Matt Miller said the cause is being investigated as a possible blown air duct.
He said the cabin did not lose pressure and oxygen masks did not deploy.
He added: ‘We had some very professional flight attendants and they did a very good job keeping people calm. They said “It's just cosmetic”.’
Robert Ditchey, an aeronautical engineer, told AP that cabin wall panels are not part of the plane’s structure and have ‘no meaning to the safety of the plane structure.’
The plane has been taken out of service while it undergoes inspections and repairs.
