Pilot Finds Hole In Plane's Fuselage; Airline and FBI Investigate
 

By the CNN Wire Staff
March 29, 2011 9:17 a.m. EDT

http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2011/TRA....hole.wcnc.jpg
This US Airways 737 was grounded in Charlotte, North Carolina, after a small hole was found in its fuselage.


(CNN) -- FBI investigators were working Tuesday to discover what caused a small hole in the body of a US Airways jet, which was discovered by a pilot as he checked the aircraft before a flight.
The puncture in the Boeing 737 airliner is the size and shape of a bullet hole, but that doesn't mean someone shot at the plane, said Amy Thorenson, a spokeswoman for the FBI in Charlotte, North Carolina. Investigators don't yet know what could have caused the hole, she said.
The aircraft had flown to Charlotte from Philadelphia and was being prepped for another flight when the pilot discovered the hole above a passenger window toward the back of the plane, according to airline officials. The airline pulled the plane from service and called in the FBI.
It's unclear whether the hole appeared before or during that flight or while the airliner was on the ground in Charlotte, but investigators and the airline were operating under the assumption that it happened in flight, Thorenson said.
The airline called in the FBI, which Thorenson said has jurisdiction over anything that happens to a commercial passenger airliner in flight.
The airline is also investigating, said US Airways spokeswoman Valerie Wunder.
"During a preflight inspection, one of our captains noticed a small hole in the fuselage," she said. "Safety is paramount, so we took that aircraft out of service and our maintenance team is investigating."
The plane -- a 737-400 designated as flight 1161 from Philadelphia -- had landed without incident at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport at about 4 p.m.
The plane holds 144 passengers, according to the US Airways website.
It was not immediately clear how many people were aboard that flight, but all of the passengers were accommodated on other flights, a US Airways spokeswoman said.
__________________