More Southwest woe: Burning smell in cabin forces another flight to divert as company cancels up to 700 flights due to cracks found in three MORE planes



Another Southwest flight forced to make an emergency landing after burning smell in passenger cabin



700 services cancelled since hole 'exploded' in plane on Friday



Passengers advised to check with airline before travelling



American airlines jet forced to make emergency landing at JFK on Saturday

Smoke in cockpit of United Airlines flight cause it to career off the runway in New Orleans



Southwest Airlines was today reeling after yet another flight was forced to make an emergency landing due to a burning electrical smell in the cabin.

The Boeing 737-300 flight to San Diego carrying 142 people was diverted to Los Angeles today after the pilot reported a mechanical problem.

The airline had already been forced to cancel 100 more flights today after cracks were found in three more planes, on top of 600 services already grounded over the weekend.

Southwest Airlines are not the only company affected.

Smoke in the cockpit of a United Airlines plane caused the pilot to lose control and career off the runway during an emergency landing in New Orleans earlier today and on Saturday, an American Airlienes flight had to make an emergency landing after decompression in the cabin.



Investigation: Two members of the National Transportation and Safety Board carry away part of the plane's fuselage after a tear appeared in the roof despite undergoing a maintenance check before the flight

Repercussions: As engineers continued to work on the craft (left) 79 other planes were grounded across the U.S. for investigation, including this aircraft at Phoenix, Arizona (right)



Today Southwest confirmed the inspections on 79 grounded planes would continue, plunging the company deeper into a crisis with far-reaching implications for the beleaguered industry.

Evidence: Engineer Chris Babcock carries the flight recorders from the Southwest flight

19 of the planes were returned to service late this morning but the airline expects up to 175 flight cancellations by the end of the day.



Spokeswoman Whitney Eichinger said the plane in the diverted flight to San Diego was undergoing an inspection to determine the cause of the electrical burning smell, but stressed that problem was 'completely unrelated to the issue in Arizona'.



On Saturday, an American Airlines jet was forced to make an emergency landing at JFK airport on due to an apparent problem with pressure in the cabin.

American Airlines Flight 883 with 140 passengers was en route to St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands from Boston when the incident occurred. It landed safely in New York at 10am.

The airline crisis began on Friday when the huge tear opened up at 34,000 feet 18 minutes into Flight 812 from Phoenix to Sacramento, California.



Passengers scrambled desperately for oxygen masks as the plane embarked on an emergency landing, eventually landing safely at Yuma, Arizona.



None of the 118 travellers was hurt but one flight attendant received minor injuries.

Southwest Airlines shares were down around four per cent pre-market following the spate of problems which have plagued the company since Friday, but Wall Street analysts said they were not concerned about the drop.

American Airlines shares were not as adversely affected by their grounded flight in the share market, with a drop of one per cent.

A United Airlines airplane made an emergency landing shortly after takeoff. The flight from New Orleans to San Francisco returned to the New Orleans airport within minutes of taking off Monday

Officials carry an emergency chute away from the plane, which was one of multiple near misses in recent days

Southwest launched an investigation of its fleet. The National Transportation Safety Board said it had so far found small, subsurface cracks.

AIRLINE PLAGUED BY PROBLEMS

Friday April 1 - Southwest Airlines Flight 812 made an emergency landing in Arizona 18 minutes after take off when a five-foot hole ripped through the plane. Saturday April 2 - American Airlines Flight 883 jet forced to make an emergency landing in New York due to decompression in the cabin. Southwest Airlines cancel 300 flights.

Sunday April 3 - Southwest Airlines cancel further 300 flights and announce inspections on 79 aircrafts. Monday April 4 - Southwest Airlines Flight ? was forced to make an emergency landing at Los Angeles after a burning electrical smell in the cabin. Smoke in the cockpit of a United Airlines Flight 497 caused the pilot to lose control and career off the runway at New Orleans during an emergency landing.

Up to 175 more Southwest flights expected to be cancelled throughout the day. The airline's premarket share price down by four per cent.



Checks on the remaining jets are expected to conclude on Tuesday. Customers are advised to check before flying.

The tear along a riveted joint near the roof of the plane above the midsection shows evidence of extensive cracking that hadn't been discovered during routine maintenance before Friday's flight.

Officials said that it was unlikely the fault, which measured 5ft long and one foot wide, would have been noticed unless mechanics had specifically looked for it but are ensuring something like that does not happen again.



‘What we saw with Flight 812 was a new and unknown issue,’ Mike Van de Ven, Southwest executive vice president and chief operating officer, said.



'Prior to the event regarding Flight 812, we were in compliance with the FAA-mandated and Boeing-recommended structural inspection requirements for that aircraft.’

Passengers on-board Flight 812 were not injured, but several reported that two people fainted, banging their heads in the process, due to lack of pressure.

Brenda Reese said people were crying from fear on the flight and said she just wanted to get home to her kids.

She said she is a frequent flyer and has never experienced anything like this before.



Social networking sites have been awash with concerns from future passengers of Southwest, many wondering if they should cancel their flight and use another airline and questioning the safety of Southwest's fleet.

On Twitter, Fred 27 wrote: 'Should be flying to California this weekend, looking at other ways to make the trip, don't trust Southwest.'

AlisonAngel wrote: 'Southwest flight has been cancelled (thank god) and trying to offer me a new one but think I will hedge my bets elsewhere.'



Delays: More than 600 services were cancelled over the weekend with another expected to be cancelled today

Uncertainty: Students wait to find out about their flights at Oakland Airport, California

National Transportation Safety Board board member Robert Sumwalt said that the rip was a foot wide, and that it started along a joint where two sections of the plane's skin are riveted together.

AIRLINE COMPLAINTS INCREASE

Airlines improved their performance last year, with fewer lost bags and bumped passengers and more on-time arrivals, but travellers were still dissatisfied, according to an annual study of airline quality.

Complaints to the Department of Transportation about airline performance went up a whopping 28 per cent in 2010, the study said.

The number of air travellers is increasing, but there are fewer flights and fewer seats available. So flights are more crowded, and it's tougher to rebook when a flight is cancelled.

Southwest Airlines maintained its ranking as the airline with the lowest consumer complaint rate, 0.27 per 100,000 passengers in 2010. Delta had the worst rate again, two per 100,000 passengers.



But Sumwalt noted that the extensive cracking could not have been spotted during routine maintenance.

The NTSB could issue urgent recommendations for inspections on other 737s if investigators decide there is a problem that has been overlooked.

The type of riveted joint involved is not normally subjected to extensive checks for wear or fatigue.

Social networking sites were awash with anxious passengers wondering if it was safe to take their scheduled Southwest Airline flights

On Friday, an American Airlines flight from Texas to South America had to be aborted after the flight crew suspected the tail of the Boeing 767 struck the runway on take-off.

Flight 945 to Santiago, Chile, returned to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport at 9.30pm where it was taken out of service and another jet flew the 170 stranded passengers.

Exposed: Passengers take photos with cell phones of a hole in the cabin on a Southwest Airlines aircraft in Yuma, Arizona

Shocked: Passengers grabbed oxygen masks as the plane made an emergency landing after the tear opened



Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Lynn Lunsford said the FAA was following up on the report.

Flight Global safety expert David Learmount said of the run of events: 'It is not unusual for these type of things to happen, it was just unfortunate for Southwest that a common, minor fault took place so closely to Friday's event.



'Having smoke or fumes in the cabin happens every day several times in airlines across the world and it is just not a serious problem that staff are very well prepared and equipped to deal with.