Southwest flight makes emergency landing, flight crew discovers hole in top of the aircraft

Southwest flight makes emergency landing, flight crew discovers hole in top of the aircraft: "

A Southwest Airlines flight leaving Phoenix this afternoon made an emergency landing in Yuma, Ariz. after the cabin lost pressure.

The Dallas-based carrier said that once the Boeing 737 landed safely in Yuma, the flight crew "discovered a hole in the top of the aircraft."

There were no injuries reported of the 118 passengers on board Southwest Flight 812, however, one of the flight attendants received a minor injury. According to the Associated Press, the flight attendant fell and suffered a bloody nose.

Southwest said it had sent another aircraft to Yuma to take the passengers on to their destination of Sacramento later tonight.

In 2009, a Southwest plane's fuselage ripped at 35,000 feet, creating a hole the size of a football. Government safety inspectors determined that metal fatigue had caused the incident and the Federal Aviation Administration required airlines to check for cracks in Boeing 737s.

And in October, an American Airlines flight between Miami and Boston had to make an emergency landing after a similar hole ripped open in its fuselage, causing the Boeing 757 to lose cabin pressure.

Here's a look at the hole from a picture taken by a passenger on the Southwest flight that landed safely at the Yuma Marine Corps Air Station Friday afternoon.

-Andrea Ahles

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