File Photo of a Boeing 747 aircraft Photo Courtesy: Thinkstock
It was panic stations on board a Dallas-bound American Airlines on Monday, when the inside walls of the aircraft started coming apart with a ripping noise.
James Wilson, of Kyle, Texas, said he and his fellow passengers knew there was a problem minutes after the flight took off from San Francisco international.
As the aircraft made its initial ascent, the fuselage shook violently and popping noises from outside were heard.
"It sounded like bowling balls were falling from overhead bins," said Wilson. And then, the interior plastic panels and insulation started ripping on the sides of the aircraft.
"It was the whole Row 14 on all sides, from the floor to the ceiling," said Wilson, who was seated in the row right behind.
The horrified passengers screamed for flight attendants. But it took a while before any of the crew came to look.
Despite the panic, the captain announced the flight would continue to Dallas because the pressure inside the cabin was stable. But he, too, changed his mind and decided to make an emergency landing after he saw the damaged panels, said Wilson.
"We flew for 45 minutes, almost an hour (after that). We got all the way to Nevada before turning around."
The 32-year-old amateur race car driver took photographs of the aircraft and posted them on his Facebook page so his wife would know what had happened in case the plane crashed.
American Airlines spokesman Matt Miller later said the mishap was probably due to a possible "blown air duct".
But the Flight 2293, he said, landed without incident in San Francisco around 2.15 p.m. None of the 184 passengers or six crew members were hurt.
Aviation safety experts said that while it is disconcerting for passengers to see any piece of a plane break, a cabin's wall panels are not part of its super structure.
"The plastic wall has no meaning for the safety of the plane. They are there so you don't have to look at the bare walls," said Robert Ditchey, an aeronautical engineer with four decades of experience. "On the other hand, it's not normal for this to happen," added Ditchey, a former US Navy pilot.
Here's the Facebook post of James Wilson: