Blog Heap o'Transport Links 4 April 2011

Federal officials said it was a "fuselage rupture" -- a large hole on the top of the Boeing 737 -- that led to a drop in cabin pressure and a terrifying descent from 36,000 feet to an emergency landing at a military base in the Arizona desert. No serious injuries were reported among the 118 aboard, according to Southwest Airlines, and the FBI said it was a "mechanical failure," not an act of terror or other foul play. The cause of the hole was not immediately known.

Southwest Airlines could cancel 300 flights on Sunday as it continues to inspect 79 aircraft from its Boeing 737 fleet, after one of its planes with a gaping hole in the fuselage made an emergency landing, a company spokeswoman said.