tonight on "nightline." breaking news. a hole blows open in the fuselage of a southwest airline flight. the plane drops 25,000 feet. we have the firsthand account of the terrifying scene from passengers glad to be alive. >> sounded like an explosion. >> it was crazy. >> just glad to be here. >> so, how could it happen? no regrets. we confront the florida pastor who burned the koran and touched off today's blood bath in afghanistan. we'll take you inside the mob as they stormed a u.n. compound and hear why terry jones did what he did. born to be wild? we sit them in rows and teach them the abcs, but what if the best kind of education involved no classrooms or books, but mud

pies and bird calls? we check out a very unusual school. >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline," april 1st, 2011. good evening to all of you in the west. i'm bill weir and we are live with breaking news. the emergency landing of a southwest flight in yuma, arizona, after a gaping hole opened in the fuselage of the boeing 737 while the craft was at cruising altitude. you can imagine the horror the folks flying from phoenix to sacramento as cabin pressure dropped, air masks deployed and the plane plunged 25,000 feet. one passenger even texted a good-bye to his wife. with all the details, here's alexi starr. >> reporter: no hiding the joy as passengers from southwest flight 812 finally made it to their destination.

made it to sacramento, california. hugs, kisses, tears. relatives overjoyed at seeing their loved ones. ashley mann couldn't contain herself. she'd been waiting for hours for her boyfriend. ever since receiving a frightening text message. >> he sent me a text when he was on the ground. and told me there was a hole in the ceiling of the plane. and that he was all right. he did assure me that. but i still don't believe him. >> reporter: the harrowing day began more than six hours earlier. the southwest flight, a boeing 737, had taken off from phoenix around 3:45 p.m. local time. 118 passengers on board. flight attendants had just taken drink orders when passengers reported hearing something unusual. loud pops. several minutes later, the roof opened up. astonished passengers saw a gaping hole. perhaps three to five feet long. and a foot wide. right next to the luggage

compartment. aviation sources provided abc news with these photos of the damage. the plane suffered a rapid decompression. >> top of the plane was ripped off and all of a sudden the masks came down. it was pretty frightening. >> reporter: the southwest pilots radioed air traffic control. they declared an emergency and began a rapid descent. quickly diving to a lower altitude so passengers would be able to breathe on their own. the jet plunged from 36,000 feet to 19,000 feet in just one minute. within five minutes, it had reached the safer altitude of 11,000 feet. but some terrified passengers clearly thought this was the end. pilots though are trained for just such an emergency and they landed safely at the marine corps air station in yuma, arizona. >> we've taught to bring the engines to idle, pull out the speed brakes and come down at maximum rate that's safe to get

everybody below 14,000 in four minutes. >> reporter: passengers called loved ones and waited for a new southwest jet to pick them up and take them on their way. meantime, investigators from boeing, the faa, southwest and the ntsb are descending on arizona to get a firsthand look at the damage. >> the biggest concern here is what in the world could have caused this. because first of all, this aircraft is not that old. secondly, this is many, many years after the things that we learned in the 1980s about corrosion control and control of the structure of aging airplanes. and thirdly, this is an aircraft that's maintained by one of the most outstanding airlines in terms of maintenance in the country. so you put all those together and there's no precedent. >> reporter: the jet was built in 1996. it's 15 years old, not ancient by aviation standards. but southwest planes get a big workout. they do many takeoffs and landings a day. that puts stress on the metal fuselage. two years ago a hole opened up

in the fuselage of another southwest plane. a jet also 15 years old. investigators blamed fatigue cracks and boeing ordered extra inspections for its 737s. 1988, aviation officials first realized age could take a toll on the plane's skin. after the roof peeled back on an elal flight. one flight attendant was killed. for tonight there was simple thankfulness that no one was seriously hurt, that everyone got home safely. for "nightline," i'm lisa stark in washington. >> what an ordeal there. thanks to lisa stark. just ahead, a florida pastor's decision to burn a koran touches off a riot in afghanistan. and eventually kills at least seven u.n. workers. i'll ask him if he shares any blame when we return. [ sneezes ] allergies?

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"nightline" continues from new york city with bill weir. we turn now to a different kind of bloody attack in afghanistan. not one led by taliban fighters, but a street mob angry at the actions of one hate-spewing man in florida. 12 days ago we got word that infamous pastor terry jones was about to burn the koran after all. we weren't alone in deciding not to give him any more attention. less than 30 people showed up for the burning and most media ignored it. last week, afghan president hamid karzai condemned the act publicly and before long, jones became a hot topic in cafes and mosques and pakistan's parliament. so clerics with bull horns had no trouble organizing today's protest, which turned into a blood bath. most days, mazar e sharif is one

of the quietest towns in a war-torn country. there was no real alarm when local afghans marched on the u.n. compound, shouting slogans against israel and america. and this moment in a far away christian church two sundays back. >> and the koran was found guilty. >> reporter: the man at the desk is pastor terry jones, the self-appointed judge in a mock trial of the koran. in front of him is pastor wayne sapp, the executioner, who went on to light a copy of the book soaked in kerosene. though video of the burning can be found on links through jones' website, there's no telling how many people at today's rally watched it. but you can see the crowd grow angrier when a radical cleric announced that not one, but many korans were burned. their anger soon turned to action, and they rushed the gates. unable to stop the crush, afghan police shot into the throngs of people, killing at least four, but they were soon overwhelmed, their ak-47s taken.

the guns were then used to mow down security guards. once inside, three u.n. workers were murdered. at least one beheaded. afghan have arrested at least 20. including the man they call the mastermind who sparked the riot. but this is exactly the kind of thing american officials were worried about in september when pastor jones told terry moran how he planned to commemorate 9/11. >> you got the wood over here, that you're going to use. >> right. >> make your bonfire. >> yes. >> and burn the koran. >> yes. >> this stunt that he is talking about pulling could greatly endanger our young men and women in uniform who are in iraq, who are in afghanistan. >> reporter: everyone from the president to the secretaries of state and defense to commanding generals in the region implored him to show american-style tolerance and respect for the world's muslims. and back then, terry jones told "nightline" that their pleas worked. but his idea was even more offensive.

a mock trial for the holy book, with four possible forms of punishment. >> those forms were burning, shredding, drowning and the koran would face a firing squad. >> reporter: with his pistol on his desk in front of him, jones explained to me tonight his new twisted reasoning. why did you born the koran after all? >> after we canceled, we still wanted to continue our campaign of raising awareness of this dangerous religion, and this dangerous element. so, after much thought we came up with international judge the koran day. we decided we would put the koran on trial. >> reporter: who was the jury? >> made up from different individuals, mainly from around florida. >> reporter: when you got news of today's deadly riots there in afghanistan, what was the first thought that went through your head? >> we are, of course, very saddened, devastated by that. it is, of course, a terrible thing any time anyone is killed. i think it definitely does prove

that there is a radical element of islam. >> reporter: should you bear any responsibility for inciting today's horrific actions? >> we do not feel responsible, no. we feel more that the muslims and the radical element of islam, they use that as an excuse. >> reporter: don't your actions make it that much easier for these radical imams to incite this sort of thing? they now have a specific incident of an american burning their most sacred text. doesn't that make it easier for these radicals to incite and spread their murderous hate? >> as i said, i believe that they definitely use that as an excuse, as an opportunity. >> reporter: when why do it? why give them that excuse? >> but it is also not a reason to back down and it is not the reason to point the finger at us. >> reporter: when you burn the text that 1.3 billion people consider holy, how does that raise awareness of the radical fringe? >> well, i think we see that

very clearly, what they did. for years and years, and we have never forced them to adapt human rights, civil rights, freedom of speech, freedom of religion. >> reporter: here's the ironic part to your argument there. the timing of this comes at a time of unprecedented awakening across the arab world. people motivated by all the things that you talk about, freedom of speech, democracy, are taking to the streets. it's not a religious movement. it's purely a democratic populist movement. but now this incident and the headlines will be that this happened as a result of your actions, may help derail that very thing that you're asking for. >> no, i don't think it will do that. i believe that it is time to raise that awareness. >> reporter: and for jones, this is also a time to raise money. since there's no way his tiny congregation can cover their soaring security bills, he recently put his church up for sale on craigslist.

and as millions of peaceful muslims wrestle with another horrific act carried out in their name, it was a deliberate choice not to ask pastor jones about any future koran burning plans. to be honest, we really wrestled with the decision to give him any more air time tonight but ultimately felt you most capable of making your own judgments. and we hope you share them with us at abcnews.com. and just ahead, could school walls be getting in the way of your kids' learning? we drop in on the all-outdoors kindergarten where mother nature sets the curriculum. [ male announcer ] nature is unique...

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what's more important for a 5-year-old to learn? the abcs or the sound of a magpie? for those who believe in the latter, tonight we visit a kindergarten in washington state where every day is a field trip. here's sharyn alfonsi, out in the trees. >> reporter: deep inside a five acre forest -- ♪ down below where the worms move slow ♪ >> reporter: this is where the wild things are. they snack on leaves. >> that would be okay to eat? >> yeah. it tastes pretty good. >> reporter: and berries. what do you call this? >> forest candy. >> reporter: forest candy, okay. all right. the kids know 21 different words for mud. silky mud and what other kind? >> spotty. >> reporter: spotty mud? >> i saw the glowing eyes. >> reporter: oh my goodness. they can also recognize the calls of dozens of birds. >> we know raven. what does a raven sound like? >> reporter: they're unusually

well versed in the world of decomposition and insects. and enjoying edible hand warmers. >> because they're warm and you can eat them. they're actually potatoes. >> reporter: getting dirty here is celebrated. so, there is always a puddle to splash in -- ♪ gooey gooey mud i like to stomp in the gooey gooey mud ♪ >> reporter: or a mud pie to make. is it delicious? >> yes. >> welcome to forest kindergarten on washington's vashon island. we're not in southern california. >> no, it rains here about nine months out of the year. i strongly believe that children cannot bounce off the walls if we take away the walls. >> reporter: so that's what erin kenny, who's been teaching preschool for years, did. she created a kindergarten that meets outside every day, no matter the weather. ♪ race into the clouds and

then ♪ >> it's sort of counterintuitive, however, it's been shown that recess actually helps kids perform better. academically. >> the giants smashed it. >> reporter: kinny, a former lawyer, was inspired to start the school after reading "last child in the woods." in the book he coins the phrase "nature deficit disorder" to explain the lack of connection between children and nature. arguing that is responsible for the rise in childhood obesity, attention disorders and depression. where are the books? >> in america, we believe that preschoolers need to learn letters and numbers to get a jump start. >> reporter: kenny does not prepare lesson plans, ever. >> our philosophy is what's called interest-led. >> reporter: what does that mean? >> interest-led means that the children are the ones directing the day. >> reporter: that sounds like a recipe for disaster. >> and actually it's not, because if children are allowed to sort of move at their own

pace and they are the ones that are spotting things that pique their curiosity and allowed to explore them in a hands-on way, they can become very focused. >> reporter: we saw that. the children spent the entire day outside without a single complaint. what do you do in the forest all day? >> we climb. >> reporter: you climb? >> we play! >> reporter: you play? you're not going inside for lunch. you're not going inside to use the bathroom. >> no. >> reporter: they're outside all day long no matter what. >> that's right. a lot of the kids actually choose to go to the bathroom outdoors. and i'm talking about peeing. we do have a composting toilet that the kids can use if they want to. >> reporter: i can hear teachers everywhere rolling their eyes, saying this sounds bananas, this sounds like hippie craziness. >> my belief is the reason we don't have it in this country is we are very much an indoor culture here in america. >> reporter: often, it looks like a commercial for laundry detergent. how muddy is she when she comes

home? >> it depends on the day. it could be -- if there's a giant mud puddle she's covered in mud. yesterday she got a mud shampoo from another kid. >> reporter: a mud shampoo? >> with her permission. >> reporter: when it's this cold and rainy out, do the kids get sick? >> the children at our outdoor preschool are healthier than children in an indoor preschool. colds and flus are caused by germs, not by being outdoors in the cold and wet. >> reporter: at the end of the day, children call their parents to the forest edge in a unique way. >> caw-caw! >> daddy! >> reporter: with that, the wild things head home. but domesticating them, well, it's no easy task. for "nightline," i'm sharyn alfonsi on vashon island in washington. >> looks fun. thank you for watching abc news. we hope you check in on "good morning america." we'll talk with more passengers from that southwest airlines flight to try to find out how an aircraft could develop a