. >>> more southwest airline flights been cancelled today. cancellations are to inspect boeing 737-300 aircraft. boeing took that out of service after a 5-foot hole opened in a passenger cabin roof after a flight that took off from phoenix. small cracks have been found on at least three planes so far. >>> kit is at oakland international which has an entire terminal for southwest. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. oakland international certainly has been bearing the brunt of the bay area airports when it comes to flight delays and cancellations. we are still awaiting word on the break downs of the various impact on all the airports. if you have a flight it may very well be cancelled. there are 79 planes left to inspect here over the weekend southwest is conducting intensive testing. so far the company has found cracks in three jets the company has a large fleet of them, 548 like the one with the problem friday. a plane headed from phoenix to sacramento had a 5-foot hole tear out of the roof of the plane. oxygen masks deployed, the plane

cracks have been found on three more southwest airlines' jets.he cracks are similar to those believed to have caused a five foot long tear in the fuselage of a southwest jet on friday. and it's reported that bp wants to resume drilling for oil in the gulf of mexico. almost a year ago an oil rig explosion spilled more than 200 million gallons of oil into the gulf. >>> two young women dominated last night's academy of country music awards in las vegas. miranda lambert won the most awards, and taylor swift captured the biggest honor of the night. sandra hughes reports. >> reporter: fans of taylor swift crowned her entertainer of the year at saturday's academy of country music awards. >> it's just the biggest thing in the world to me because my heroes won that award. >> reporter: another young country star swept the rest of the evening. miranda lambert was the night's top nominee and walked away with best single, song, and video of the year for her hit "the house that built me." she also won top female vocalist. >> in 2011 just chill and be happy to

he points out the entire fleet of southwest jets is 737s and a similar problem happened on a southwest 737 in 2009. what's going on in he says too many takeoffs and landings. >> every time you take off, you pressurize it, when you land, you relax it. next take off, same thing. that's putting that effect on that aluminum. >> some airlines take off two to three times a day, southwest averages six to seven. this 15-year-old jet has logged 39,000 takeoffs and landings. they are still investigating what happened, but some passengers aren't waiting for their findings. >> i will search other options first. i will use southwest as a last resort. >> reporter: well, tonight the faa is set to issue an authority that would ground all 80 of those jets for inspections of cracks. but southwest says it has already inspected 39 jets and found three with cracks. those planes have been grounded. i can tell you tonight, passengers coming out still say they are feeling the ripple effects from delays from the cancellations. the airline says all the cancellations will be over by tomorrow morning. >> all righ

southwest airlines and faa inspectors are grounding and inspecting 81 planes in the southwest fleet. right now in front of the southwest terminal here at oakland airport, there's a long line of passengers waiting to check into their flights. some of these travelers could face delays and cancellations because of that mass inspection process you were talking about. at least two of the grounded planes are here at oakland airport. they're being inspected right now, two of the 81 planes in the fleet. we just checked the info board. at least 14 flights scheduled to depart oakland airport this morning have been cancelled. some arrivals have also been cancelled and there could be more cancellations and delays as the day goes on. some of the passengers on those cancelled flights told us that southwest personnel told them their flights were cancelled because of the inspections happening today. >> i would appreciate them inspecting the planes, i'd rather that than see a hole in my plane or whatever, but just to find out at 5:00 am or 6:00 am when we got here was a real bummer. >> i'm glad that

i expect southwest will be paying me back. >> i'm certain that southwest will take care of its customers. it it's intimidating to find out that the fuselage opens at mid flight. whatever they need to do. >>reporter: as to the hustle for switching flights, spending an afternoon on a sunny day with a few friends wasn't too bad. and were getting home tonight. how long will we continue to see cancellations and delays? we don't know the answer yet, southwest is the inspecting their plane reporting live, kron 4 news.. >>vicki: southwest airlines has had to ground their airlines for similar problems three times in the last three years. now nonprofit organization fears it's only a matter of time before this happens again. nicole spoke with the director of fliers rights. she explains what rights you have a as an air passenger and how you can get help. >> they canceled the flight that i was scheduled to take a >>reporter:. this is one of thousands of calls made to fliers rights. an organization that helps air passengers. the nonprofit executive director estimates of the 63,000 passengers have lost

fewest complaints was southwest. those results do not include the most recent decision to ground dozens of aircraft. alaska airlines had the second lowest complaints rate. mesa is third. >> if you are customer of tivo, walgreen's, best buy, chase, capital one, u.s. bank or citibank, some of your personal deats may have been exposed. -- personal data may have been exposed. epselon says on march 30th its system was hack. names and e-mail addresses but credit card details and other critical information were not exposed but other companies are warning to be on the look for spam e-mail that asks for personal information. >> the hearst corporation is considering charging a fee for online version of san francisco kron congressional. they want to roll out a payment system along with a digital subscription possibly as soon as theof the month. as many half of the stories available would be restricted to paying. no word yet on what the fee could be. >> kristen: and baseball and soccer whatever you are interested in, you can do

fairfield, southwest 16 in vacaville, southwest 6. that's a delta breeze.airfield, northeast at 7. let's turn that completely around in advance of the system. the main one is the low coming out of the north. that's what's moving everything from the south. so colder thursday and really -- i'm really concerned about the lows more than any rain. it will be very cool. it will be very cool for any time of year. but in april, it will be very cool with the snow levels down to 500 feet. cooler highs, coastal fog and more of a westerly breeze. so upper 50sings, low 60s if you are -- 50s, low 60s, if you are stuck in the fog. >> the five-day has a cooler pattern. much colder thursday into friday. not so much the rain, but look at the lows. the weekend looks sunny and warmer. >>> a large crowd is expected tonight at a public meeting on pipeline safety. it's being held in san bruno, less than two miles from the deadly september explosion. the california public utilities commission is taking comments from the community as they look into what new rules could be created.

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 th

southwest owns most of them. and southwest planes take off and land more often than other aircraft. reaction from southwest passengers ran the gamut. >> i have just been traveling southwest for so many years. sticking with it us. >> i'm not going southwest ever again. >> i will search other options first and will use southwest as a last resort absolutely. >> reporter: and so to recap the numbers, 175 aircraft worldwide, 80 here in the u.s. but southwest kneels the vast majority of them have been -- feels the vast majority of them have been tested so that leaves 90 worldwide. so other airlines listen to the faa so check your flights this morning. >> once they get that taken care of, then they have the pr problem to get customers back. thank you, kiet do. >>> muni train caught on tape going full speed and as you can see, the door wide open. check it out. amateur video was posted on youtube shows a packed muni train during friday night's rush hour open with passengers standing just inches away as it goes around. it

the vast majority at southwest. investigators are wondering whether planes used on short haul flights with multiple takeoffs and landings like southwest routes incur greater metal fatigue as the skin of the plane expands and contracts. >> i think part of this is not only inspecting the plane but looking at how often the planes are used, how often they take off, how often they land. >> reporter: the 737 involved had a 14-year maintenance overhaul in march of 2010. those overhauls involve stripping the plane to its frame and going over every centimeter with specialized tools looking for corrosion or cracks but inspectors rarely look under the lap joints where this crack was found. a former accidents investigations chief for the faa says it's stunning how quickly this crack turned into a true in-flight emergency. >> this is like the worst case explosive decompression that pilots train for routinely. getting the plane down from maximum altitude as quickly as you can. >> reporter: after cancelling several hundred flights

. >>> 70 southwest airline flights cancelled today. those are to inspect boeing 737- 300 aircraft. the airline took all those planes out of service after a 5- foot hole opened in the passenger cabin roof of a flight that took off from phoenix. >> small cracks have been found on at least three planes that were checked so far. >>> kit is at oakland international with how passengers are dealing with all the problems all the delays and all the cancellations good morning. >> good morning sydnie. we just checked the boards inside the terminal here of all the flights leaving between now and 9:00 a.m. there are 48 of them of those 8 have been cancelled so far. so oakland international certainly bearing the brunt of all the cancellationflights here in the bay area. if you have a flight with southwest this morning, it is a good idea to check before you get on out the door. they are inspecting 79 airplanes today, they are looking for tiny cracks in the fuselage. so far the company has found cracks in three jets, the company has a large fleet of those jets, 548 like the one that had the proble

what we're learning about the - opens up in a southwest plane. tonight new informations reveal more problems with more planes, and possibly more airlines. why the investigation could disrupt travel for weeks. >>> they're young, looking for work, and prime foorgs criminals. how scammers are preying on teenaged workers, and how you can help stop it. the news starts now. good evening. i'm vicky nguyen sitting in for diane dwyer tonight. there are some major developments tonight in the wake of a midair rupture in a southwest passenger jet. ntsb investigators have discovered cracks in three more planes. they say the cracks are similar to the one that caused a 737 to lose a five-foot chunk of its roof during a flight from phoenix to sacramento. the aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing in yuma, arizona where it remains tonight. southwest canceled hundreds of flights this weekend to pull 79 planes out of service for inspection, but the problems are far from over. nbc bay area's kimberly tere is at oakland international airport with the latest

southwest grounded similar planes and began to inspect them. because of the reduced fleet, southwest canceled hundreds of flights. ken pritchett has been talking with stranded passengers who are scrambling to make new plans. >> reporter: we had little difficulty finding passengers who were affected by the cancellations. some of the passengers found connecting flights and others were just out of luck. lisa stern has had a long day on the phone. >> waiting time when i tried to get on the phone was an hour and 20 minutes. >> reporter: and a long day trying to catch a new flight to l.a >> i didn't know pause i was busy that southwest had had an incident. >> reporter: that involved a southwest flight from phoenix to sacramento when a three-foot section of the roof ripped away at 36,000 feet. the plane made an emergency landing in yuma. >> our mission is to determine not only what happened but figure out why it happened so that we can prevent things like that from happening in the future. >> reporter: no passengers were injured but one was able to ca

about 170 of the 540 southwest planes are 737, 300s. the 3 00 model is the oldest plane in southwest fleet. the company replaced the aluminum skin and plans to replace all of them over the next few years. >>> a similar event on a 737 killed a flight attendant. the top of an aloha airlines plane peeled away in flight and the attendant was sucked o. dozens of passengers were injured. the plane made an emergency landing at an airport on maui. >>> anyone who witnessed the violent beating outside dodger stadium is being lured to come forward with a hefty reward. la police are looking for the dodger fans who critically injured this giants fan from santa cruz. he remains in critical condition. marquez for the call for better security. >> offering a $10,000 reward for information that can lead to the arrest of these two suspects wanted for the severe beating of brian stowe, a 41- year-old paramedic and father of two. he is in a medically induced coma because of swelling on the brain and may need to have part of his frontal lobe removed, which c

problems with southwest airlines is our top story at 6:00 a.m. today. >> darya: we will get to that in a couple of moments. but let's go to the southwest airlines. >> mark: roughly 60 flights need to be inspected for cracks, three more cracks were found so far. this is old in the plane from friday's incidents. it shows an incident of the teeth and crashing. that was there before the incident happened. the inspection continues and 19 other planes inspected using the test showed no problems. those planes will be returned to service. hundreds of flights have been canceled over the weekend and more delays expected today. they have a hub here in oakland, that's where we find will trend. >> will: so far eight flights out of oakland have been canceled so far. that number should stack up as the morning progresses. they have added 30 minutes ago three more cancelled flights coming in, from omaha, los angeles, phoenix. lots of people asking what's going to happen once they get to their other destinations. the good news is most of the flights are taking off

reaction from southwest passengers ran the gamut. >> i have just been traveling southwest for so many years, i'm sticking with it. >> i'm not going southwest ever again. >> i will search other options first and will use southwest as a last resort. absolutely. >> reporter: and so southwest says that they have already tested most of the planes that are in question now and they are looking forward to a schedule today with minimal delays and cancellations. >> certainly good news to the passengers. kiet, thank you. kiet do in san jose. >>> it is 6:05. i guess we're going to have a little cooldown later in the week but we are just going to concentrate because today is all that matters, right? >> right. today will be beautiful. although not as beautiful as yesterday. but beautiful nonetheless. so we have high pressure in place and we will see mostly sunny skies, clouds starting to move in from the north today as the ridge flattens out. onshore flow, breeze at the at the coast and by the bay. all of that means -- onshore flow, breezy at the coast and by the bay. all of that means cooler inlan

it's clear in the southern plains and southwest.arge and powerful line of thunderstorms is racing eastward. now later today, rain in the northeast as a strong line of thunderstorms covers the southeast. it will be sunny in the southwest while the northwest has more rain and snow showers on the way. and in the midwest, expect lighter winds and cooler temperatures. >>> in sports, the uconn huskeys are the new national champions. in the second half, butler had the lead. but the huskeys come back, holding butler to shooting only 18%, the worst ever in a title game. uconn beats down the bulldogs, 53-41. for coach jim calhoun, it's his third ncaa title. >> this group has taken me on one of the great special journeys, better than any i could possibly imagine. when i needed maybe a little bit more of what i do, is teach or coach for 39 years, they gave me tenfold. >> after the game, thousands of fans stormed the home court to celebrate. campus police made a handful of arrests. >>> in baseball, the rangers go deep against the mariners. in th

west at sfo, west-southwest at oakland and southwest at fairfield. there my friends is the sea breeze. and even though it's not that strong, it's on shore. and that's going to cool us down. system right there producing some light rain. you can see it's a weak front. the main result from this is going to be a pick up in the wind. stronger low still coming out of the gulf of alaska. there's not a lot of moisture with it so not expecting much in the way of any rain. we are expecting temperatures to really drop off the table on thursday. showery maybe a tenth of an inch to a quarter or third but very cool for april. if there's any available moisture, then we will see maybe some very low snow levels. i don't think they're going to make it. there just won't be enough in the way of moisture. today mostly sunny, cooler highs. that's out of the west. not the east northeast. still 76 antioch. but after today everyone sees a lot of 60s tomorrow and then 50s for thursday and friday. the good news though is it will be sunny on the weekend. bad news is it's going

. >>> southwest airlines canceled flights at all three major bay area airports today as it deals with the fallout from its own mid-air emergency last week. a passenger took this cell phone photo of the 5-foot wide hole in the cabin that opened on the flight from phoenix to san francisco. that prompted southwest to cancel hundreds of flights. 70 flights were scrubbed today including four flights in oakland, two in san jose, one at sfo and three from sacramento. of the 548 737-300 jets in the fleet they found three with small cracks in the fuselage. as for the crack that opened up in the air they found preexisting cracks surrounding the hole. >> we did find evidence of widespread cracking across this entire fracture is surface. >> this is not the first time a hole has opened up during a southwest flight. back in 2009 metal fatigue caused a football-sized hole in another 737. in 2008 the airline found cracks in six other planes. it was find 7 1/2 million dollars for overdue inspections. >>> this latest southwest airlines incident is raising some questions about the vulnerability of other

>>vicki: cancellations and delays for southwest flights. we will tell you what rights you pass as a passenger on a canceled flight. first and aircraft disaster in alameda county. a single engine plane dove nose first into the san leandro marina. one person inside was killed. kron 4 was there when the plane went down. he is live in alameda to tell us what happened. >>reporter: i actually saw the airplane right before it crashed. i was going to oakland airport to cover different story and i was sitting in my car at a light on hegenberger. all the sudden a small plane goes right by me, at a low altitude but what really caught my attention was how fast it was going at such a low altitude. 30 seconds later a bunch of first responders sped past me. i followed them here and you're looking at what i saw when i got here. basically the plane's nose was down and the tail was up. here's footage i shot after. he could see first responders and witnesses try and help the pilot, the crash happened at 3:40 p.m. near oakland airport. that's where the plane h

. >>> i'm not gonna go southwest ever again. >> southwest is known for its short hops. how the formula that made the airline successful may also be putting the planes at risk. good evening, i'm dana king. ken bastida is off tonight. >>> you know, it's pretty easy to beat up on muni, san francisco's buses are often late and packed. trains break down and employees have some pretty generous perks. but tonight grace lee got some video that begs the question "what is going on at muni." >> reporter: it's friday night rush hour. muni is packed and the door is hanging wide open with passengers standing just inches away. a commuter shot this video because he could not believe the door would stay open, gaping for nearly the entire ride from van necessary to church. that passenger is alex ma recollection could have. >> my first thought was somebody press the red button. >> reporter: he did not hit the button because he wanted to document this dangerous situation. >> that doesn't make me mad, it makes me want to go hello san francisco. san francisco muni does not care about your sa

southwest could have handled it better. >> reporter: southwest cancelled a lot of flights in the bay area. 12 at sfo. 22 in oakland, 21 in san jose. he airline says if you plan on traveling on southwest tomorrow, check the web site before leaving home. reporting live at sfo, abc-7 news. >> alan: two years ago fatigue cracks caused a football-sized hole to open up in another southwesterly 737. the cabin also lost pressure and the plane made an new jersey landing -- emergency landing inwest. the hole was caused by metal fatigue. in response to that accident, southwest changed its maintenance plan to include additional inspections. >>> a fire in the berkeley hills caused a scare. >> can't get the hydrant open. >> alan: firefighters struggled with a sub barn hydrant while a fully engulfed home threatened homes around it. it started on queens road. firefighters were preparing to conduct a rescue when word got back that the elderly couple who lives there was out shopping. the family dog also escaped and firefighters had it under control in 30 minutes. witnesses say they could see it burnin

a live look at oakland airport, southwest is having some problems.n case you see one of these issues we will let jan know what is happening. if you're flying southwest he might run into delays, federal investigators say they have found cracks in three more planes, those cracks are similar to those found in a plane that had to make emergency landings on friday. investigators say the area that ripped open shows evidence of fatigue cracking that was there before friday's flight. i joined of two sections of the plane came apart. it created a 5 ft. all the pilots acted quickly descending rapidly, one flight attendant was hurt. hundreds of flights were canceled over the weekend as a result. >> justine: some people had their flights canceled decided to buy one-way ticket on another airline. probably a safe bet. the couple that we talk to did not find it about the prom to against the morning. that is when they decided to go with a plan b. >> it is get across, but i expect southwesterly bring me back. >> i'm pretty certain that southwest will take care of its

southwest airlines canceled 22 outbound and 8 inbound flights today. while it seems calm now, there was chaos for much of the day. >> two hours. >> a long line at oakland international airport filled with people forced to make alternate plans because southwest grounded 29 flights. >> i was already packed. i was ready to go out the door. i was eating my breakfast. my son was ready to pick me up and i just wanted to get out. >> reporter: it may be days before another flight. >> they said basically, sorry, you're going to miss your flight. it's a little bit more complicated than that, because we're flying into texas to go on a cruise. >> reporter: some missed their flights because the lines to check in were too long. >> there's a good chance people can make their flights. but they've got two lines here with nobody communicating. and what they really should do and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to say, look on the board and if your flight is coming out, you can get in this line so you can make your plane. >> we're going to l.a. to go to istanbul on ano

. >>> cracks found in three more southwest airlines jets. grounded for inspection. what was found on the jet that ripped off to oakland three days ago. >>> if someone leaves a message, i have to check. >> be prepared to pay the price for violating the hand's free law. >>> booed off the stage in detroit. people walked out of the charlie sheen show. was it any better in chicago? good evening. >>> a pilot is dead after his small plane crashed in the east bay shortly after taking off from the oakland airport. >> reporter: the single engine plane crashed with such force the nose with the pilot inside was buried in mud on the edge of san leandro bay nearby the airport. it flew about a mile at low elevation, then dropped. >> the airplane did get a couple hundred feet of altitude, then continued to descend, and crash landed in a body of water called san leandro marina, but it's in the city of alameda. >> reporter: a golfer not far from the crash ran to the plane. another golfer said the nearby rescuerer was covered in mud. >> he said a plane went down near the 13th hole. he

. >>> in the east bay a new problem for southwest airlines. i flight bound for denver taking off this morning from oakland international airport had to turn around and land back at oakland. the duty manager blames the diversion on a minor mechanical problem. >>> meanwhile, southwest airlines says it's finished inspecting its grounded older planes after a hole ripped open on a southwest flight on friday. as randall pinkston reports federal officials are now ordering other airlines to closely inspect some of their own boeing 737s. >> reporter: southwest airlines finished inspecting its fleet of planes. now the faa is issuing an emergency order telling other airlines to examine some of their planes for metal fatigue. crews will check for cracks on older 737s using an electromagnetic device. before only a visual inspection was required. >> you have planes flying that in effect have been checked but may have these small cracks that cause the kind of problems we saw on the southwest jet. >> reporter: the action comes after a hole tore open in the ro

more problems for southwest airlines.nd to san diego was diverted to los angeles because of a burning smell in the cabin. meanwhile, cracks were found in three more southwest jets and don teague is in dallas with more on all that. don, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, jeff. those cracks were found after that truly terrifying incident for passengers on friday. that's when a five foot by one foot hole tore apart with a southwest airlines 737 shortly after it took off from phoenix. now, the plane landed safely and investigators are now trying to figure out what caused that plane to tear apart. inspectors say they have found multiple pre-existing cracks surrounding the tear. that was in that plane. southwest grounded 79 of its 737s for inspections in response and they've now found cracks on at least three of those planes and say further evaluation or repairs will be necessary before they fly again. >> i believe the boeing company is going to put out a service bulletin, the faa is going to be looking carefully at how t

>>> new pictures are emerging of a hole that opened up in a sacramento-bound southwest airlines jet. now similar airplanes being pulled for inspection and hundreds of flights have been cap cancelled. investigates from the ntsb are in arizona, trying to find out what caused the incident. video and photos taken by passengers are still emerging today. southwest flight 812 was bound from phoenix to sacramento yesterday when a hole about four feet long opened up above an overhead compartment. it caused a drop in cabin pressure, and one flight attendant was hurt when he passed out from lack of oxygen and hit his nose. the pilots made a rapid descent in arizona. >> we will be very carefully looking at this particular event to see if there are system-wide deficiencies that need to be addressed. >> you felt really dizzy like you were going to black out. >> the plane's 118 passengers were put on another flight which handed -- landed safefully sacramento last night. southwest cancelled 300 flights nationwide to inspect the aluminum skin on dozens of older both 737s. according to a flight tracki

southwest forever. no problems. there's never been any problem with the plane. i think it's still good. >> reporter: the ntsb says boeing is sending a service bulletin to other airlines on how to check their planes for similar cracking. inspections are expected to be done by tomorrow. that's according to southwest airlines' website. 300 flights were canceled across the country yesterday. live from oakland international, jade hernandez, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> all right, jade. another southwest flight that took off from the bay area had to make an emergency landing. the flight was from oakland to san diego. it landed safely in los angeles last night after reports of an electrical burning smell in the plane's cabin. 142 people were on board. no one was hurt. this emergency landing is said to be unrelated to the cracks that forced friday's landing in arizona. >>> in redwood city overnight a mother and her four children safely escaped a fire that destroyed their home. it happened about 2:00 a.m. this morni

nearly 80 southwest 737-300s have been taken out of service as southwest looks for any signs of the kind of cracking that may have caused this hole to open up midflight. 118 passengers on board along with five crew members. they all got off alive, one flight attendant and a few passengers passed out from a lack of oxygen as air was sucked out of the cabin. investigators on the ground in yuma, arizona, today looking over the southwest 737 that made an emergency landing late friday, after a five-foot hole ripped open midnight mid-flight. passengers described a loud bang, then a rush of air escaping from the cabin. >> and bam, i mean, just incredible noise, and then while you're trying to process what just happened, then oxygen masks come down. >> not everyone was getting their mask on. some were having problems, people were passing out. it was not good. >> reporter: flight 812 had just reaches cruising altitude after departing from phoenix, bound for sacramento, when suddenly that large section of the airliner's skin ripped open, right over the passengers' heads. the pilot quickly descende

. >>> now to the problem with southwest airlines. cracks were found and repaired on the same southwest 737 that made an emergency landing friday night in arizona. that's according to federal records. a year ago, cracks were found in a joint where two sections of the plane's skin are arrive rivoted together. at sfo, 15 cancellations, at oakland, 40 cancellations. we have not heard how many flights out of san jose are affected. >>> senator chuck schumer of new york said he wants to see tougher regulations on inspections of those highly popular 737 jets. >> i think that we have to do a thorough review of these aircraft. i think it's up to boeing, because it's not just southwest that flies these, but many other airlines that fly them. >> the 737 is considered the work horse of the airline industry, used mainly for short haul flights. tonight, southwest says two more of its 737's are now grounded after inspectors found small cracks in the planes as well. >> reporter: investigators found widespread cracking on the fuselage of the southwest

. >> investigators say they now know what tore a gaping hole in a southwest airlines jet, and the findings could prompt big changes in the industry. we'll have the ntsb's findings, and a live report on the headache this is causing at bay area airports, straight ahead. >>> half moon bay making the move to outsource police services to help close their budget gap. we'll tell you what happens to the officers now. >>> and lawmakers in washington have a lot on the chopping block. we'll tell you what is at stake if they don't reach a deal by the end of the week. the news at 5:00 starts now. >> good evening. diane dwyer is off. i'm vicky nguyen. we begin tonight with the investigation into a southwest airlines flight that had to make an emergency landing after part of the roof tore off mid flight. the passenger jet was carrying 123 people on the way to sacramento from phoenix when the cabin suddenly lost pressure. nbc's francis quo has the latest on what ntsb investigators learned today. >> reporter: a preliminary federal investigation reveals what may have caused the southwest jet to make an emer

southwest says the new f.a.a. order will not cause them anymore delays because they've already inspected their 737s for the past three days. southwest canceled hundreds of flights nationwide including several right here in the bay area so those inspections could take place. but southwest says operations should be back to normal today. >>> passengers on board a san francisco bound flight that made an emergency landing yesterday in new orleans say there were signs of trouble from the very beginning. the pilot reported smoke in the cockpit and equipment failure shortly after taking off. passengers told us here at ktvu the plane was making strange noises and that reading lights and the public address system just stopped working. the plane headed back to the new orleans airport but it veered off the runway after blowing a tire. >> by the time we got down, which was not a pretty landing, we were just all glad to be on the ground. and then we thought it was over and then they said no you have to get out of the plane, go

more problems revealed in that southwest jet that tore open at 36,000 feet. was the plane an accident waiting to happen? and what about other jets in the fleet? >>> days of rage. the spreading anger and protest in afghanistan. what caused it. and what the u.s. is doing to put out the fire. >>> sex slaves, lured here with the promise of a better life, forced into selling themselves, maybe in a neighborhood near you. >>> and once upon a time, the man who is making a difference bringing children's books back man who is making a difference bringing children's books back to life. captions paid for by nbc-universal television >>> good evening. investigators tonight are getting a much better idea as to why a five-foot hole ripped open on a southwest airlines jet over arizona friday evening. a roof section of the boeing 737-300 will be removed and sent to washington overnight for closer analysis. but already, investigators have found evidence of previous structural fatigue and widespread cracking in the plane's fuselage, despite the fact it underwent a major inspecti

planes, 8 0u6 whi0 here in the most operated by the southwest. the concern more fatigue and stress cracks could be found leading to more travel disruptions over the coming weeks. as maintenance teams and federal investigators continue to cut through possible issues with southwest airlines fleet of 737, 300s, the carrier was forced to cancel 70 flights. southwest grounded 79 planes for emergency inspections and canceled hundreds of flights over the weekend after this five-foot hole ripped through the fuselage of a jet last friday. depressurizing the cabin, 18 minutes a flight from fine, to sacramento. >> preliminary onsite investigation reveals pre-existing fatigue along the entire fracture surface. >> maintenance records show in 2010, crews found ten instances of cracking in the aircraft's frame and 11 more instances of cracked clips designed to hold the plane's skin in place. today we learned inspectors have found subsurface cracks in at least three more southwest jets. similar to those that may have caused the tear last friday. but faa official

southwest has the fewest. reducing its complaint rate. alaska and mesa airlines got high marks. >>> easter is not for a few weeks. the bunny hopped to the top spot in the weekend box office. "hop" opened in first place. that matched "rango" for the year's best debut. "source code" opened in second, followed by "insidious." >>> and there was breaking media news overnight. there is going to be a new anchor at the cbs evening news. katie couric is leaving after less than five years on the job. she's expected to launch a syndicated talk show next year. but we don't know when her final broadcast will be at cbs. >>> quite the buzz, that's for sure. >>> coming up next, the medical marijuana break through. getting the health benefits >>> a rare upset of the uconn women on the quest for the national title. ♪ there are milestones that no parent wants to miss. let's see, there's first steps. first words. first time riding a bike without training wheels. and the first vacation memory that will last till roughly... forever. now, there's a first. tell

. >>> inspectors have found small -- cracks in southwest planes. much like those that ripped open a plane last friday. abc7's lilian kim is at oakland international with more on this new development. >> carolyn, about 80 southwest planes are out of service as inspectors take a closer look, and what they found are extensive cracks below the surface. as investigators began cutting apart the damaged southwest jet in yuma, arizona they found a significant clue. metal fatigue cracks that may have caused the few sill looming to fail. >> we found evidence of widespread cracking across this entire fractured surface. >> those cracks can develop after repeated takeoffs and landings. what's more, they found similar cracks in three other southwest planes today. the airline's entire fleet of 737-300 are being looked at after the flight from phoenix to sacramento when 18 minutes after takeoff the top opened up at 36,000 feet. it turned out to be a five-foot long tear, but luckily for the 118 people on board, the plane was able to make an emergency landing at an

southwest had the fewest complaints.alaska airlines had the second lowest and mesa air was third. >> starting today chp and more than 2300 agencies will do a month long crackdown on distracted drivers. they are looking for drivers that are doing hand-held phone calls and text messaging. 6,000 more have been cited for the texting ban that took effect six months later. >> we'll be right back. it's the little things in life that make me smile. spending the day with my niece. i don't use super poligrip for hold because my dentures fit well. before those little pieces would get in between my dentures and my gum and it was uncomfortable. even well-fitting dentures let in food particles. super poligrip is zinc free. with just a few dabs, it's clinically proven to seal out more food particles so you're more comfortable and confident while you eat. so it's not about keeping my dentures in, it's about keeping the food particles out. [ charlie ] try zinc free super poligrip. >>> today on oprah at 4:00, donald trump and his five chi

. >> i love southwest airlines. i feel very comfortable when i fly with them. they, other than today, have always been on time and the lines are short. but those passengers may have been very -- must have been very frightened. >> jade hernandez has been at the airport all morning long and says six flights departing were cancelled and flights that were arrive -- that were due to arrive have been cancelled. >>> more on inspections. casey siegel is live in yuma, arizona, the city where all of the trouble started. what's happening today with the plane that developed a hole? >> reporter: well, tori, good morning to you. that plane we're talking about, just right behind me, you know, it's miraculous, that 118 passengers and five crew members walked off of that plane friday night after it split wide open as it was traling about 3 6,000 -- >> responding to what? >> reporter: only about 18 1/2 minutes after it took off from phoenix. as fares a the investigation goes, several things are going -- as far as the investigation go

airlines, southwest refuse to go wrong. they raised base prices and business affairs as they struggle with higher fuel costs. southwest prefers to raise the cost around a long weekend so might do so around easter. i wonder how that will translate to more passengers. >> mark: the latest on united airlines flight the main emergency landing yesterday. they have safely arrived and some francisco. the passengers london just before 5:00 p.m. yesterday smoke was detected yesterday and the co-pilot lost electronics forcing them to land without the ability to steer or break properly. no one was seriously hurt, federal investigators say it will take months to investigate. barry bonds perjury trial resumed this morning after juror called in sick yesterday. witnesses will include three technicians, the former lab director will also testified that a sample tested positive for the clear. it also here reading from the grand jury testimony. it could be decided today if the secret tape recording will be used. they say that tape will coopera

it wasn't the first time this happened to a southwest plane. a similar hole opened in a fuselage in july of 20áe 2009 and on an american airline 757 last year. aviation experts say the daily pressurizing and depressureiationizing of the cabin causing the metal to fatigue. on tuesday the fha issued an emergency order requiring additional inspections of thefute lath of those boeing 73 aircrafts that have flown over 30,000 flights. the inspections use an electric current to serve for small subsurface cracks of the southwest flees more boeing 737- 300s than any other airline in the world, 169 and many are age and experts say that adds to the danger of metal fatigueeg. airlines are required to inspect their planes really for tiny cracks that could lead to bigger problems, such as last week's rupture, but as ktvu's jesse gary told us the federal aviation administration was concerned. >> reporter: the faa ordered inspections of directives related to maintenance records of older model boeing 7337 aircrafts for every us airline. they say years of pressu

a new >>> one hundred more southwest flights cancelled. what investigators are finding among dozens of grounded planes. >>> a new emergency landing on a bay area flight. >> if someone leaves a message i have to check. >> resist that urge to check that text today. one lawmakers push to boost fines. >>> good morning everyone it is monday the 4th of april thanks for joining us i am sydnie kohara. >> it is monday. 4:30. we have the whole crew up here we will be kicking off a little weather it is wonderful. >> shaping up to be one of the warmest days of the week too. >> shall we get used to it? >> no, you will be freezing by the end of the week. maybe not actually 32 degrees but close. i wouldn't be surprised to see frost by friday morning. today will be absolutely gorgeous let's enjoy it while it lasts. temperatures low 70s around the bay. 75 oakland, 76 san jose, santa rosa, plenty of sunshine but some significantly cooler changes are on the way, chance of showers, frost, maybe a snow flake or two, all that coming up in just a bit. that woke

we know southwest has grounded its 737 boeing fleet so they can do inspections.ill unclear is what's next, and if they figured out what caused that to happen. we're waiting on this press conference to begin. when the vice chair gets to the podium, we'll check in with that, and keep you updated. >>> in libya, this is video that shows rebel forces moving toward the town today. the show down comes as the rebels grow slightly stronger. gadhafi's forces are continuing to use air strikes against the rebels. >>> in the ivory coast, a charity group using machetes killed 1,000 people during the last three days. the united nations says that death toll is 330. it's not clear which side of the ivory coast civil war is responsible for the killings. >>> president obama is offering his condolences after violent protests in afghanistan turned deadly. those protests happened friday after response to a florida church that burned a copy of the koran. mr.obama called the burning of the koran an act of extreme intolerance, but isn't responsible for the killings. the pastor of the chu

airline planes are southwest airline planes are susceptible southwest airline planes are susceptible atst fwa.ean ougog t bk. wi cseuidesi yr arho, u stnaa cte,hise a de. ougog t bk. wi cke sp rwd yr arho, >>> the incident that grounded southwest airlines planes and led to the faa calling for the inspection of 737 jets has happened before. ktvu's health and science editor john fowler spoke to an expert and found why this particular aircraft is susceptible. >> reporter: engineers say the rip in the roof happened right where they expected it in what's called a lap joint between sheets of aluminum. >> they are a point where you typically have higher stresses. there's a little bit of bending here. >> reporter: i spoke to roland huet. air pressure two tons per square food pushes out of the cabin, then relaxes on departure. experts say 736s are favorites and likely prone to these problems. a china air 737 crashed nine years ago killing 225. the faa fined southwest three years ago for failing to inspect cracks. >> they will happen. they don't have a catastrophe consequences. >> reporter: hu

operated by southwest, u.s. airways and continental. >>> the pilot of a small plane died when his world war ii era plane crashed. it happened just off a trail that wraps around alameda. not far from the airport runway. witnesses say the single engine was 200 feet in the air when the engine appeared to quit. the plane wrashed into the shore. the pilot who flew around at the time of the crash says the weather conditions were mild. >> you know, the national transportation safety board is going to investigate this. it takes several months to come out with a preliminary report. the main thing is for people not to jump to conclusions as to what actually happened. we don't know. >> the name of the pilot has not been released. the faa is investigating the crash. >>> the federal government will run out of cash if congress does not agree to a financial plan. negotiations this weekend went nowhere. if there's no budget, hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors will not be paid. offices, museums and non-emer

southwest had the fewest complaints. alaska airlines had the second lowest and mesa air was third. >> starting today chp and more than 2300 agencies will do a month long crackdown on distracted drivers. they are looking for drivers that are doing hand-held phone calls and text messaging. 6,000 more have been cited for the texting ban that took effect six months later. >> we'll b are you trapped and don't know how to escape your addiction to cigarettes? one out of two regular smokers will die prematurely from smoking. you don't have to be one of them. escape the trap. say "enough." for free help to quit smoking, call the california smokers' helpline at 1-800-no butts. >>> today on oprah at 4:00, donald trump and his five children. then at 5:00, are you working hardener this economy. it can be hard on your health, too. and another day of inspections for southwest airlines and the flying public. >> enjoy the sun today and rest of the week. >> it's going to get much colder and return of some rain. five to seven degrees coole

no word yet from southwest as to what is happening tomorrow. reporting at san francisco international airport, abc-7 news. >> carolyn: there is a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of two suspects who brutally attacked a giants fan outside dodger stadium. 42-year-old brian stow of santa cruz remains in a medically induced coma tonight, four days after he was attacked following the giants' homeopenner in l.a. he is a paramedic and fourth -- father who shares custody of his children with his former life. >> he knows he has two children. he knows he needs to be a father to them. and i think he is going to pull through. >> reporter: the l.a. county supervisor who is offering the reward is calling for enhanced security and strict limits on alcohol sales at dodger stadium following that attack. today, l.a. mayor antonio villaraigosa and san francisco mayor ed lee, and the managers of the giants and dodgers, issued a joint statement condemning the violence and asked the community to show support for stow and exercise sportsmanship an

>> i'm crossing my fingers it's not. >> will: southwest does make multiple stops. if you stay on the same plane you never get off that plane regardless of how many times it stops. there's a chance you won't have problems. but as you get to phoenix, keep your fingers crossed the that might be a 737 any might have to wait for another flight. so far so good. i can tell you the number of our rivals went up from two up to six. but that's telling me there are cancellations coming into oakland. you can see people behind me are arriving in oakland from other places across america. according to the spokeswoman she believes today will last day they should have a problem >> reporter: cells like things are improving. >> james: southwest may have attempted to delay inspections for clap cracks like the one suspected in friday's incident. southwest was the only airline to complain saying it would pose a burden on the flight schedule. according to the report they didn't dispute the necessity of inspections by the time frame. united airlines flight had to make an emergency landing

today southwest mechanics cut out a section of the fuselage. officials say a tear around a joint is evidence of extensive cracking that had not been discovered during routine maintenance. government records show cracks were found and repaired in the same plane one year ago. although nerves were frayed no one was seriously injured on the phoenix to sacramento flight. >>> meantime, southwest has cancelled another 300 flights today as the airline continues to inspect 79 of its boeing 737 aircraft. we're live at sfo where many passengers have been forced to make other arrangements to get where they're going. >> reporter: carolyn, 600 flights across the country, 300 today, 300 yesterday. today there were 30 cancelled flights out of oakland, seven out of san francisco, and a whole lot of frustration to go around. not all flights were grounded but at times it sure look that way on the flight board. >> southwest is making all of this money and they're having -- expanding and doing these things. they need to take care of their planes. >> reporter: in sa