Incident Description
On April 1, 2011, at about 1558 mountain standard time (MST), Southwest Airlines Flight 812, a Boeing 737-3H4 (registration N632SW), experienced a rapid decompression while climbing through flight level 340 (FL340). The flight crew executed an emergency descent and diverted the airplane to Yuma International Airport (NYL) in Yuma, Arizona.
Injuries and Damage
The airplane was carrying 5 crewmembers and 117 passengers. During the incident, one crewmember and one nonrevenue off-duty airline employee passenger sustained minor injuries. A postaccident inspection revealed that the airplane had sustained substantial damage: a section of fuselage skin approximately 60 inches long by 8 inches wide had fractured and flapped open on the upper left side above the wing.
Flight Details
The flight was conducted under 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 121 as a regularly scheduled domestic passenger flight from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, Phoenix, Arizona, to Sacramento International Airport, Sacramento, California.