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>A wave of malfunctions has plagued Southwest in recent years. Considering the amount of flights Southwest operates, three major events over the span of two ye

>A wave of malfunctions has plagued Southwest in recent years. Considering the amount of flights Southwest operates, three major events over the span of two years seems like a tremendous success -- Especially since nobody has died! This accident is undoubtedly traumatizing but extremely rare. Is there any meaningful substance to this?

maxerickson 8y ago
Just the single incident of an engine coming apart like this is considered a serious problem. They spend a lot of money inspecting them to prevent such things. The most interesting comparison is probably between maintenance facilities that work on comparable planes. So if there are some that don't have any incidents, you maybe conclude that 3 is really bad.
- ssambros 8y ago
  It is a second similar incident during the last two years: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southwest_Airlines_Flight_3472 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southwest_Airlines_Flight_3472
- master-litty 8y ago
  I'm certainly not saying it isn't serious. I just wouldn't plaster it as a historical recurrence. Wikipedia suggests Southwest has at least 700 aircraft running 6 flights per day, implying 4,200+ flights per day, implying about 1.5+ million flights per year. 1-3 flights with major incidents out of 1.5 million? I would hardly call that a "wave of malfunctions" as it stands. But I do agree comparing maintenance facilities would be interesting.
  - pfarnsworth 8y ago
    No. Their duty cycle per plane is 3-4x what other airline companies do. Their aircrafts undergo a lot more stress than other airlines, so the fact they have so many more flights isn't impressive, it's the CAUSE of their problems. Several years ago they had a case of their fuselage ripping open midflight, and the reason was that the stress of taking off and landing puts a lot more stress on their planes.
    - Johnny555 8y ago
      Doesn't the FAA approve aircraft maintenance plans? As far as I know, they consider cycles in the plans. It's surprising that the FAA would allow them to have an interval 4X that of other airlines. Well, perhaps more surprising would be if other airlines would do 4X more maintenance checks than Southwest if they could get away with less.
toyg 8y ago
Somebody did die, one casualty confirmed.
- master-litty 8y ago
  I just read that a little while ago. Terrible.
gowld 8y ago
It could be high or low -- need to compare to other airlines's incidents/mileage/flights. The article is junk editorializing narrative-building, though. They could have written "only three major events over the span of two years" like you did, and readers would have no way to judge if "only" is correct or not.
joshvm 8y ago
A flaw with the engine is typically in the hands of the engine manufacturer. If your (if you are General Electric or Rolls Royce) engine breaks that's a big problem and you want to figure out why, because it could ground entire fleets. Similar things happened when there were problems with the A380 and the Dreamliner - one airline has an issue, and other airlines ground their planes until Boeing/Airbus come up with fixes. A reasonably common model is that the airline effectively leases the engine, or at least contracts out maintenance to the manufacturer who also receives telemetry during flights. Saying it's an airlines fault doesn't mean much, assuming they've kept to the prescribed maintenance schedule (which may well be mandated by the manufacturer). Southwest was fined in 2008 for poor maintenance practice, but that was a decade ago now.

maxerickson 8y ago

Just the single incident of an engine coming apart like this is considered a serious problem. They spend a lot of money inspecting them to prevent such things. The most interesting comparison is probably between maintenance facilities that work on comparable planes. So if there are some that don't have any incidents, you maybe conclude that 3 is really bad.

ssambros 8y ago
It is a second similar incident during the last two years: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southwest_Airlines_Flight_3472 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southwest_Airlines_Flight_3472
master-litty 8y ago
I'm certainly not saying it isn't serious. I just wouldn't plaster it as a historical recurrence. Wikipedia suggests Southwest has at least 700 aircraft running 6 flights per day, implying 4,200+ flights per day, implying about 1.5+ million flights per year. 1-3 flights with major incidents out of 1.5 million? I would hardly call that a "wave of malfunctions" as it stands. But I do agree comparing maintenance facilities would be interesting.
- pfarnsworth 8y ago
  No. Their duty cycle per plane is 3-4x what other airline companies do. Their aircrafts undergo a lot more stress than other airlines, so the fact they have so many more flights isn't impressive, it's the CAUSE of their problems. Several years ago they had a case of their fuselage ripping open midflight, and the reason was that the stress of taking off and landing puts a lot more stress on their planes.
  - Johnny555 8y ago
    Doesn't the FAA approve aircraft maintenance plans? As far as I know, they consider cycles in the plans. It's surprising that the FAA would allow them to have an interval 4X that of other airlines. Well, perhaps more surprising would be if other airlines would do 4X more maintenance checks than Southwest if they could get away with less.

toyg 8y ago

Somebody did die, one casualty confirmed.

master-litty 8y ago
I just read that a little while ago. Terrible.

gowld 8y ago

It could be high or low -- need to compare to other airlines's incidents/mileage/flights. The article is junk editorializing narrative-building, though. They could have written "only three major events over the span of two years" like you did, and readers would have no way to judge if "only" is correct or not.

joshvm 8y ago

A flaw with the engine is typically in the hands of the engine manufacturer. If your (if you are General Electric or Rolls Royce) engine breaks that's a big problem and you want to figure out why, because it could ground entire fleets. Similar things happened when there were problems with the A380 and the Dreamliner - one airline has an issue, and other airlines ground their planes until Boeing/Airbus come up with fixes. A reasonably common model is that the airline effectively leases the engine, or at least contracts out maintenance to the manufacturer who also receives telemetry during flights. Saying it's an airlines fault doesn't mean much, assuming they've kept to the prescribed maintenance schedule (which may well be mandated by the manufacturer). Southwest was fined in 2008 for poor maintenance practice, but that was a decade ago now.