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Cases › DCA11MA039 › The analyst

BOEING 737SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO

What the docket says, assembled. No language model is involved, so nothing on this page can be invented — every line traces to a recorder, a report page or the Board's own record.

6
timed facts
8
precedents
16
passages to ask

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passages, not paraphrases
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Every answer is a passage of the docket with the page it came from, or the words “not in the docket”. Nothing is summarised or reasoned for you — read the source.

One timeline

6 timed factsthe recorder events from the FDR report, with the transcript's warnings, callouts, the words nearest each event and the final seconds — on one clock, as printed in each report
  1. 15:40 MSTFDRtakeoffp.3
    Takeoff, followed by approximately 18 minutes of climb
    see the traces at this moment ↗
  2. 15:58-16:03 MSTFDRemergency descentp.3
    Over the next 4.5 minutes the aircraft descended from FL340 to 11,000 ft (emergency descent)
    see the traces at this moment ↗
  3. 15:58:09 MSTFDRclimbp.3
    Climbing through FL340, the cabin altitude warning parameter indicated a warning (rapid decompression)
    see the traces at this moment ↗
  4. about 16:06 MSTFDRdescentp.3
    After leveling at 11,000 ft for 3.5 minutes the aircraft descended to 9,000 ft
    see the traces at this moment ↗
  5. 16:11:33 MSTFDRdescentp.3
    Cabin altitude warning deactivated as the aircraft descended through approximately 8,500 ft
    see the traces at this moment ↗
  6. 16:28 MSTFDRlandingp.3
    Aircraft landed at Yuma
    see the traces at this moment ↗
Flight Data Recorder 10 - Specialist's Factual Report · 6 events extracted by claude-fable-5-1 (in-session)
How the Board coded the sequence
  1. Enroute-climb to cruise: Aircraft structural failure

Precedents

8 closest casesranked by what happened, in the Board's words, and by the findings and occurrences it coded
  • DCA11FA0042010-10-27substantialmatch 71
    BOEING 757-223 · AMERICAN AIRLINES INC
    Miami, FL
    • ●Aircraft › Aircraft structures › Fuselage
    Aircraft structural failure
  • DCA09FA0652009-07-13substantialmatch 68
    BOEING 737 · SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO
    Charleston, WV
    • ●Aircraft › Aircraft structures › Fuselage
    Aircraft structural failure
  • DCA25LA0612024-12-18substantialmatch 64
    LOCKHEED 382G-44K-30 · LYNDEN AIR CARGO LLC
    St. Mary's, AK
    • ●Aircraft › Aircraft structures › Fuselage
    Aircraft structural failure
  • DCA16LA0962016-02-12substantialmatch 57
    LOCKHEED 382G · Lynden Air Cargo
    Iliamna, AK
    • ●Aircraft › Aircraft structures › Fuselage
    Aircraft structural failure
  • DCA20CA0502019-12-22substantialmatch 51
    Boeing 737 · Southwest Airlines
    Kansas City, MO
    • ●Aircraft › Aircraft structures › Fuselage
  • ENG14IA0162014-02-25no fatalitiesmatch 47
    DOUGLAS C 118A · TATONDUK OUTFITTERS LIMITED DBA
    Emmonak, AK
    Aircraft structural failure
  • DCA18CA0562017-12-23substantialmatch 47
    MCDONNELL DOUGLAS DC 9 33F · Everts Air
    Bethel, AK
    • ●Aircraft › Aircraft structures › Fuselage
  • DCA25LA0852025-01-10substantialmatch 45
    BOEING 767 · UNITED PARCEL SERVICE CO
    San Bernardino, CA
    • ●Aircraft › Aircraft structures › Fuselage

What the record says

a pattern, not a findingacross the 8 closest cases · 8 carry coded findings · 8 have a probable cause
Findings the Board cited in those cases
Occurrences it coded
  • 5 of 8Aircraft structural failure
Set against the Board’s own findings for this case
Cited here, and common in the precedents
  • Aircraft structures › Fuselage
Cited here, not seen in the precedents
  • Experience/knowledge › Knowledge
Common in the precedents, not cited here
  • —

A teaching device, not a verdict: what the record would have looked at, next to what the Board found.

In the Board’s words — the closest cases
  • DCA11FA0042010-10-27 · BOEING 757-223 · AMERICAN AIRLINES INC
    Fatigue failure of the fuselage crown skin due to incorrect manufacturing of the crown skin panel that resulted in a skin thickness less than the manufacturer-specified thickness.
  • DCA09FA0652009-07-13 · BOEING 737 · SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO
    Fuselage skin failure due to preexisting fatigue at a chemically milled step.
  • DCA25LA0612024-12-18 · LOCKHEED 382G-44K-30 · LYNDEN AIR CARGO LLC
    The fatigue failure of the forward pressure bulkhead canted web that originated from stress corrosion cracking areas. Contributing to the failure were inspection procedures and intervals inadequate to identify the fatigue cracks.
  • DCA16LA0962016-02-12 · LOCKHEED 382G · Lynden Air Cargo
    The fatigue failure of the forward pressure bulkhead canted web that originated from stress corrosion cracking areas. Contributing to the failure were inspection procedures and intervals inadequate to identify the crack.
  • DCA20CA0502019-12-22 · Boeing 737 · Southwest Airlines
    a bird strike during descent

This is the pattern in the NTSB’s own record across similar accidents — which findings it cited, what it coded, what it recommended. It is drawn from the record, not written about this case, and it never assigns blame: investigations exist to prevent the next accident (ICAO Annex 13).