Hole In Southwest Airlines Plane Forces Emergency Landing, Inspection

July 14, 2009 2:37 p.m. EST

Dallas, TX (AHN) - A Southwest Airlines plane bound from Nashville to Baltimore made an emergency landing in Charleston, West Virginia on Monday because a hole popped up in its fuselage half an hour after taking off.

No one among the 131 passengers of Flight 2294 were injured when cabin pressure dropped due to the hole as oxygen masks dropped, the crew remained calmed and the pilot safely landed the plane at the Yeager Airport.

The airline immediately inspected 180 planes in its fleet of 737-800 jets after the incident. The airline released a statement Tuesday saying it did not find anything wrong with its jets and refunded passengers of Flight 2294 their ticket cost.

The National Transportation and Safety Board is also investigating the cause of the accident.