in this thread we track evidence of the usa descending into 3rd world status... starting with old airplanes that pass faa inspection then crack open in flight...

Southwest Hasn’t Found Flaws in 737 Checks After Hole in Jet

July 14, 2009 (Bloomberg) -- Southwest Airlines Co. said it has found no flaws so far during inspections for metal weakness on all 181 of its Boeing Co. 737-300 jets after a hole about a foot wide opened in a plane’s fuselage, forcing an emergency landing.

The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board investigators will examine the jet, said Les Dorr, an FAA spokesman. The agency will check whether Southwest complied with any safety directives regarding the area of the plane with the hole, which appears to be about 1 foot (0.3 meter) by 1 foot, he said.

“There’s really no way to speculate on what caused it right now,” Dorr said. “It certainly is an unusual occurrence.”
two years later...

Fuselage hole forces Southwest emergency landing

PHOENIX -- April 2, 2011 — A “gunshot-like sound” woke Brenda Reese as her Southwest Airlines flight cruised at 36,000 feet. Looking up, she could see the sky through a hole torn in the cabin roof.

The Boeing 737 lost cabin pressure after the hole developed Friday, prompting frightened passengers to grope for oxygen masks as the plane made a terrifying but “controlled descent.”
note to self... do not trust the faa. do not fly in 737s that are more than 10 yrs old.