CNN reports that FBI investigators were diligently working on Tuesday, March 29, to determine the cause of a small hole in the body of a US Airways plane.
According to the article, the hole was discovered on Monday, March 28, when a pilot was checking the aircraft, a Boeing 737 airliner, before a flight. The plane had already flown from Philadelphia into Charlotte and was being readied for another flight. The hole was reported to be the shape and size of a bullet hole, and was located towards the back of the plane above a passenger window. FBI investigators caution it doesn’t necessarily mean someone was shooting at the plane. At the time the article was written, the cause of the hole had not yet been identified.
Once the hole was found, US Airways pulled the aircraft from service and contacted the FBI. The article notes that the FBI has jurisdiction over anything that occurs to a commercial passenger airline when in flight. It is not clear whether the hole was made before or during the previous flight or even while the aircraft was grounded in Charlotte. Investigators as well as the airline have been operating under the assumption that it resulted during flight. The airplane was able to land without difficulty at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport at approximately 4 p.m.
As of Tuesday, March 29, the plane had yet to return to service. The aircraft is able to hold 144 passengers. However, the number of passengers aboard when the hole may have appeared on the plane has not been released.
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