Southwest Airlines Flight 812
The aircraft after the incident, with the yellow arrow indicating the failure in the upper fuselage skin | |
| Incident | |
|---|---|
| Date | April 1, 2011 |
| Summary | Rapid decompression caused by in-flight structural failure |
| Site |
|
| Aircraft | |
| N632SW, the aircraft involved in the incident, seen in 2016 after being repaired | |
| Aircraft type | Boeing 737-3H4 |
| Operator | Southwest Airlines |
| IATA flight No. | WN812 |
| ICAO flight No. | SWA812 |
| Call sign | SOUTHWEST 812 |
| Registration | N632SW |
| Flight origin | Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, Phoenix, Arizona, U.S. |
| Destination | Sacramento International Airport, Sacramento, California, U.S. |
| Occupants | 122 |
| Passengers | 117 |
| Crew | 5 |
| Fatalities | 0 |
| Injuries | 2 |
| Survivors | 122 |
Southwest Airlines Flight 812 was a domestic flight from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, Arizona to Sacramento International Airport in Sacramento, California operated by a Boeing 737-300 passenger jet. On April 1, 2011, the flight suffered rapid depressurization while cruising at 34,000 ft (10,000 m) near Yuma, Arizona, leading to an emergency landing at Yuma International Airport. Two of the 122 people on board suffered minor injuries.
The depressurization was caused by the structural failure of the fuselage skin, which produced a hole approximately 60 inches (150 cm) long on the upper fuselage. The NTSB investigation revealed evidence of pre-existing metal fatigue, and determined the probable cause of the incident to be related to an error in the manufacturing process for joining fuselage crown skin panels.
The incident was the second of this type in less than two years, following the structural failure of Southwest Airlines Flight 2294 in 2009, and led to the FAA increasing the inspection rate of certain airframes.