Bama/Georgia Twister Trails in MODIS

The key tornadoes, at the EF4 or above levels were so long-lived, and broad, that the tracks can bee seen for hundreds of miles, even at a measly 250-500 meter resolution. - HLG

Twister Chasers dot Com

Cool web-site.

http://twisterchasers.com/TwisterChasers/Storm_Chaser_Home_Page.html

NOAA-NSSL Scientist Jumps Headfirst Into Global Tornadoing Bruhaha

NOAA Scientist Rejects Global Warming Link to Tornadoes

By James Rosen

Published April 28, 2011

|

A top official at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) rejected claims by environmental activists that the outbreak of tornadoes ravaging the American South is related to climate change brought on by global warming.

Greg Carbin, the warning coordination meteorologist at NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma, said warming trends do create more of the fuel that tornadoes require, such as moisture, but that they also deprive tornadoes of another essential ingredient: wind shear.

“We know we have a warming going on,” Carbin told Fox News in an interview Thursday, but added: “There really is no scientific consensus or connection [between global warming and tornadic activity]….Jumping from a large-scale event like global warming to relatively small-scale events like tornadoes is a huge leap across a variety of scales.”

Asked if climate change should be “acquitted” in a jury trial where it stood charged with responsibility for tornadoes, Carbin replied: “I would say that is the right verdict, yes.” Because there is no direct connection as yet established between the two? “That’s correct,” Carbin replied.

Formerly the lead forecaster for NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center, Carbin is a member of numerous relevant professional societies, including the National Weather Association, the American Meteorological Society, the Union of Concerned Scientists, and the International Association of Emergency Managers. He has also served on the peer review committee for the evaluation of scientific papers submitted to publications like National Weather Digest and Weather and Forecasting.

This evaluation by a top NOAA official contradicted pronouncements by some leading global warming activists, who were swift to link this season’s carnage to man-made climate change.

“The earth is warming. Carbon emissions are increasing,” said Sarene Marshall, Managing Director for The Nature Conservancy's Global Climate Change Team. “And they both are connected to the increased intensity and severity of storms that we both are witnessing today, and are going to see more of in the coming decades.”

Bjorn Lomborg of the Copenhagen Consensus Center, an activist and author who believes industrialized societies expend too much money and energy combating global warming, instead of focusing on more immediate, and easily rectifiable, problems, doubted the tornadoes have any link to warming trends.

“We've seen a declining level of the severe tornadoes over the last half century in the U.S.,” Lomborg told Fox News.“So we need to be very careful not just to jump to the conclusion and say, ‘Oh, then it's because of global warming.’”

In fact, NOAA statistics show that the last 60 years have seen a dramatic increase in the reporting of weak tornadoes, but no change in the number of severe to violent ones.

For many, the high casualties of 2011 recalled the so-called “Super Outbreak" of April 1974, which killed more than 300 people. “You have to go back to 1974 to even see a tornado outbreak that approaches what we saw yesterday,” W. Craig Fugate, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), told Fox News.

Asked earlier, during a conference call with Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley about the possibility that climate change is playing a role in the tornado outbreak, Fugate shot back: "Actually, what we're seeing is springtime. Unfortunately, many people think of the Oklahoma tornado alley and forget that the Southeast U.S. actually has a history of longer and more powerful tornadoes that stay on the ground longer -- and we are seeing that, obviously, in the last week and yesterday.”

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/04/28/noaa-scientist-rejects-global-warming-link-tornadoes/#ixzz1KsIq68l1

NWS Houston/Galveston Goes on Facebook

Oh my!

http://www.facebook.com/US.NationalWeatherService.HoustonGalveston.gov

Tuscaloosa Twister

Picture of the nasty tornado which ripped central Tuscaloosa earlier. - HLG

"Tuscaloosa Obliterated"

That was the quote from the mayor as of this hour. The radar from Birmingham has has a persistant hook-echo storm which passed right over Tuscaloosa earlier. The cell is clearly seen to the north of B'Ham. - HLG

New Series! "Interesting Met Jobs"

As an effort in continual improvement, Six Sigma Black Belt, and to upkeep our ISO Standardization, the FWSAAB presents a new series of "Interesting Met Jobs". Today's job is a "Meteorologis/Wind Analyst" in Houston, Tx. Take a look, take-a-lookers. - HLG

Meteorologist / Meteorologist / Wind Analyst / Analyst Wind / Meteorologist

My client is a company devoted to saving the planet via the development of Renewable Energy projects in North and South America, and they have some of the brightest minds in the business. They place great emphasis on nurturing employees to achieve their greatest potential in this effort. A rewarding environment in every aspect. The financial strength of the company is outstanding, and they have several thousand MW's in the pipeline.

Responsibilities:
Perform statistical analyses on large datasets from project temporary and permanent met towers, remote sensing equipment and turbine specific power / meteorological data
Simulate wind flow characteristics across various projects utilizing linear and/or CFD models
Interpret wind flow model data to be used in optimizing project layouts
Simulate and interpret environmental models including noise, shadow flicker, and zone of visual influence
Support finance and power marketing group in generating project uncertainty analyses along with forecasted peak and off peak power production
Support turbine procurement team in site suitability analysis and discussion with turbine vendors
Work with 3rd party groups to develop finance able wind assessment reports
Perform project site visits to assess turbine sitting and data measurement campaigns
Create project maps using ESRI GIS software applications
Support Operations Team as needed
Requirements:
BS Atmospheric Sciences, Engineering
Minimum two years directly related experience
Strong statistical skills
Experience with remote sensing equipment
Experience with large data-sets
Experience with relevant industry s/w
WHAT CANDIDATES SAY ABOUT THIS RECRUITER:
Ed has helped us fill a very special position by providing us a short list of uniquely qualified and suitable candidates. Ed spent time and efforts to understand the needs of our organization and then acted as a fair broker throughout the whole process.
Director of Operations for a wind company in the Midwest

Surreal Storm Totals in Middle-America

The Louisville radars show large areas of 10 plus inches of rain from a multi-day series of storms, and rain is expected most of today as well! - HLG

Fires In Davis Mountains, Texas

Amaazing image of the fires raging in the Davis Mountains, near the MacDonald Observatory telescopes in West Texas. - HLG

Late April in Houston?

We had dew points in the teens most of the day yesterday! - HLG

6 PM (22) Apr 16 82.0 (27.8) 19.0 (-7.2) 29.99 (1015) N 6
5 PM (21) Apr 16 82.0 (27.8) 19.0 (-7.2) 30.01 (1016) N 6
4 PM (20) Apr 16 80.1 (26.7) 19.0 (-7.2) 30.04 (1017) Variable 3
3 PM (19) Apr 16 79.0 (26.1) 19.9 (-6.7) 30.07 (1018) NNE 7
2 PM (18) Apr 16 78.1 (25.6) 19.0 (-7.2) 30.09 (1018) N 13
1 PM (17) Apr 16 75.9 (24.4) 18.0 (-7.8) 30.12 (1019) NNE 14
Noon (16) Apr 16 73.0 (22.8) 17.1 (-8.3) 30.12 (1019) N 17
Oldest 11 AM (15) Apr 16 70.0 (21.1) 10.9 (-11.7) 30.13 (1020) N 15

Chapter 53 FWF: Yest ANOTHER sleeping controlller

FAA Issues New Schedules After Another Air Controller Falls Asleep
Published April 16, 2011 AP
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The government is changing air traffic controllers' work schedules following another incident of a controller falling asleep on the job.
The Federal Aviation Administration says it happened early Saturday morning at a radar facility in Miami that handles high altitude air traffic. A controller fell asleep while on duty.
The FAA says 12 other controllers and two managers were working at the time.
The sleeping controller has been suspended.

Death Toll from Southern Tornadoes Reaches 17

LEAKESVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Authorities say the storms that pounded the Deep South killed one person in Mississippi, bringing the death toll to 17 across four states.
Jeff Rent, a spokesman for the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, says one death was reported in Greene County. He did not have further details, and the Greene County Sheriff's Office did not immediately return a phone message Saturday.
Tornadoes were reported across Mississippi on Friday, damaging dozens of homes and businesses and leaving more than a dozen people hurt.
Combined with earlier reported death in Alabama, Arkansas and Oklahoma, the confirmed death toll had risen to 17 by Saturday — making it the nation's deadliest storm of the season.

MODIS Image of Fires in Texas on Friday 15th April, 2011

Just specturally large and wide-spread fires with very large smoke plumes now extesnding over most o the Lone Star State. -HLG

Smoke from Large Fires Fans Out Over Most of Texas

Never seen this before. Especially the large scale nature of the fires, and extent of the smoke plumes. - HLG

Major Tornado in the Making?

Very strong severe weather set-up. Expecting major tornadoes over the next couple of days? - HLG

Ice Age Update

As the world continues the rapid dive into global drying and cooling, as seen in every age just prior to the ice advancing, spring fires rage in unusual places, such as Eastern Kansas, and Korea. - HLG

FWF Chapter 52

More sleeping in the terminal. No need for Ambien with the FAA. Cures insomnia working in the towers, apparently!- HLG


Emergency Landing at Reno Airport After Air Traffic Controller Falls Asleep
Published April 13, 2011
| Associated Press
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RENO, Nev. – An air traffic controller in Nevada was asleep and out of communication for about 16 minutes while a medical plane was landing, federal officials said Wednesday.
No one was injured when the flight carrying at least three people landed at Reno-Tahoe International Airport during what was at least the third incident this year at one of the nation's airports involving a lapse by an traffic controller.
The controller in Reno has been suspended while the Federal Aviation Administration investigates his lack of response to repeated contacts from the plane and airport staff around 2 a.m. Wednesday.
"The flying public needs an assurance from the FAA that this situation will be addressed at all airports," airport chief Krys Bart said. "We must have adequate staffing."
Last month, two jetliners landed at Washington's Reagan National Airport without tower assistance after the lone air traffic supervisor fell asleep.

A follow-up investigation by the FAA uncovered a second incident of an air traffic controller sleeping on the job in February during the midnight shift at McGhee Tyson Airport in Knoxville, Tenn.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has ordered an examination of controller staffing at airports across the nation, and he directed that two controllers staff the midnight shift in Washington.
The National Transportation Safety Board has opened its own investigation, and the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has added yet another investigation.
The Piper Cheyenne plane involved in the Nevada incident is a twin engine turboprop with seating for five.
Airport staff heard the pilot trying to contact the tower and then tried to contact the tower themselves, Bart said.
"The pilot evaluated the airfield. The weather was clear. The aircraft did land without incident," she said.
It was not immediately clear where the flight was coming from.
Bart said the airport, which serves the Reno, Carson City and Lake Tahoe areas, opened a new air traffic control tower in October 2010.
She said the airport has three runways, including two with modern instrument landing and lighting systems.
The incidents come nearly five years after a fatal crash in Kentucky in which a controller was working alone. Investigators said the controller in Kentucky was most likely suffering from fatigue, although they placed responsibility for the crash that took 49 lives on the pilots.
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association has warned against putting controllers alone on shifts and assigning tiring work schedules.

Chapter 51: Fun with Flying

The fun in the air has now moved to the ground. - HLG

2 Planes Hit Each Other at NYC Airport
Published April 11, 2011

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NEW YORK -- The world's biggest commercial passenger jet has clipped the tail of another plane while taxiing out to depart New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport.
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Jim Peters says there were no injuries when the super jumbo Air France Airbus A380 touched the other plane Monday night.
Peters says the Paris-bound Air France Flight 7 was taxiing on a runway when its left wingtip struck the tail of Comair Flight 629CRJ7, which had just landed from Boston and was taxiing to its gate.
He says both jets would be towed to a ramp area for inspection. The extent of the damage is unknown.
The double-deck Airbus A380 can carry 525 passengers in a three-class configuration or more than 850 in a single-class configuration. Comair operates regional flights for Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines Inc

Saharan Dust Storm off NW Europe

Never seen so much dust this far to the northwest of the Sahara. -HLG

Latest Geoid Model of Earth from ESA's GOCE Satellite

Fog and Haze on Mars

Nights on Mars are shrouded in icy fog that turns to scattered precipitation, according to a new study of weather near the red planet's north pole.

The finding marks the first time that fog has been directly observed on the neighboring world, adding to evidence that modern Mars experiences a type of ongoing water cycle akin to Earth's.

Scientists probed the Martian fog using NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander. The craft touched down on Mars in May 2008—during the planet's late northern summer—and collected data for about five months before succumbing to frigid winter conditions.

Pictures from Phoenix revealed, for example, that there's water ice in the shallow Martian soil, but scientists aren't yet sure whether that ice is a relic of ancient times or is formed by ongoing processes.

During four nights near the middle of the Phoenix mission, scientists aimed a green laser beam affixed to the lander into the Martian skies and used a pair of cameras to record the result.

The new analysis of this data shows that Martian fog contains about 1.7 milligrams of water ice per cubic meter. Most of the fog is made of particles a little smaller than a thousandth of an inch wide, with an occasional larger particle settling out and falling toward the surface.

"If you went outside on a dusty or foggy night with a laser pointer and pointed it straight up, you'd see what we saw on Mars," said study co-author Mark Lemmon, a planetary scientist at Texas A&M University.

"You'd see the green beam and points of light every once in a while as a particle drifted through that beam."

Mars Showers Are Like Arctic "Diamond Dust"

From a seat next to the Phoenix lander, an observer during those four nights would have enjoyed a spectacular sunset as the late-summer day drew to a close. But soon after the bluish colors faded from the horizon, the observer would see the skies just a few meters overhead begin to choke with icy fog.

"Because the atmosphere is so thin on Mars, there is nothing to keep in the heat overnight, so the ground cools off very quickly," said study co-author John Moores, a planetary scientist at York University in Canada.

"Heat from the air is lost to the ground, so the air close to the ground gets colder, and as that pocket of [cold] air gets larger," more water vapor in the atmosphere condenses into ice crystals, and the fog gets thicker, Moores said.

"The fog starts closer to the ground and rises in height over time, so the cloud gets thicker and thicker and higher and higher as the night goes on," he added.

Eventually the icy haze begins to shower the ground with a light sprinkling of snowlike particles. The shower is not quite snowfall, the scientists say, but is perhaps more akin to the "diamond dust" that falls from the skies on some cold nights in Earth's Arctic regions.

Some 0.0001 inch (2.5 micrometers) of frost coats the Martian surface by the time the sun begins to rise in the morning. That icy layer then sublimates—turns directly from a solid to a gas.

Some of the water vapor reenters the atmosphere, but some likely penetrates the soil and becomes part of the subsurface ground ice, the scientists surmise. Either way would suggest some dynamic hydrological processes still at work on Mars.

"Because we have the fog," Moores said, "that means that there is a reservoir of water [in the atmosphere] to interact with subsurface water on a daily basis."

The Martian-fog study was published in the February 25 issue of Geophysical Research Letters.

Brian Handwerk
for National Geographic News
Published April 4, 2011

Amazing Use of Forensic Meteorology

The mystery of the crash of Air France 447, just out of radar range off Brazil, is still unresolved, but the forensic meteorology used to help solve the mystery is well portrayed in the NOVA episode regarding this crash investigation. - HLG

Watch the full episode. See more NOVA.

FWF Chapter 50: More fun in New Orleans, this time the kids got to use the slides!

United Airlines Flight Returns to Airport Minutes After Departing
Published April 04, 2011
Associated Press
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NEW ORLEANS -- A United Airlines flight from New Orleans to San Francisco returned to the New Orleans airport within minutes of taking off Monday after rocking back and forth.

Copilot Ronald Lee Young told an Associated Press reporter aboard Flight 497 that he landed on backup systems, with minimal steering and braking ability, after the plane lost all electronics. He said the plane, heavy with fuel, ran off the runway and blew a tire.

As soon as the flight was on the ground, flight attendants shouted "Leave everything. Get out!"

Passengers slid down the front and back slides.

A few passengers walked to an ambulance after a call for anyone with injuries. The injuries appeared to be minor, such as abrasions from the slide

Chapter 49 FWF: Just some little ole cracks

YUMA, Ariz. – Inspectors have found small, subsurface cracks in two more Southwest Airlines planes that are similar to the cracks that caused a jetliner to lose pressure and make a harrowing emergency landing in Arizona, the airline said Sunday.

The two planes will be evaluated further and more repairs will be undertaken before they are returned to service, Southwest said in a statement.

Friday's flight carrying 118 people rapidly lost cabin pressure after the Boeing 737-300's fuselage ruptured -- causing a 5-foot-long tear -- just after takeoff from Phoenix.

Passengers recalled tense minutes after the hole ruptured overhead with a blast and they fumbled frantically for oxygen masks. Pilots made a controlled descent from 34,400 feet into a southwestern Arizona military base. No one was seriously injured.

The tear along a riveted "lap joint" shows evidence of extensive cracking that hadn't been discovered during routine maintenance before Friday's flight -- and probably wouldn't have been unless mechanics had specifically looked for it, officials said.

National Transportation Safety Board investigators on Sunday were in Yuma to oversee the removal of the top section of the jetliner's roof around the tear. The structure will be sent to Washington, D.C., for analysis.

Southwest said it cancelled about 300 flights for the second day in a row Sunday as it inspected 79 planes in its fleet similar to the one in Friday's incident. By Sunday afternoon, 19 planes had undergone the intense inspection with no findings and had been returned to service, the airline said.

NTSB board member Robert Sumwalt said that the rip was a foot wide, and that it started along a joint where two sections of the 737's skin are riveted together. An examination showed extensive pre-existing damage along the entire tear.

But Sumwalt noted that the extensive cracking, known in the industry as "multi-site damage," 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.

Federal records show cracks were found and repaired a year ago in the frame of the same Southwest plane.

An Associated Press review of Federal Aviation Administration records of maintenance problems for the 15-year-old plane showed that a March 2010 inspection found 10 instances of cracking in the aircraft frame, which is part of the fuselage, and another 11 instances of cracked stringer clips, which help hold the plane's skin on.

The records show the cracking was either repaired or the damaged parts replaced. Cracking accounted for a majority of the 28 problem reports filed as a result of that inspection.

It's common for fuselage cracks to be found during inspections of aging planes, especially during scheduled heavy-maintenance checks in which planes are taken apart so that inspectors can see into areas not normally visible.

The jetliner had gone through about 39,000 cycles of pressurizing, generally done for takeoffs and landings. Cracks can develop from the constant cycle of pressurizing for flight, then releasing the pressure.

Southwest officials said the Arizona plane had undergone all inspections required by the FAA.

They said the plane was given a routine inspection Tuesday and underwent its last so-called heavy check, a more costly and extensive overhaul, in March 2010.

The decompression happened about 18 1/2 minutes after takeoff from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport after the pilots reached their cruising altitude. They immediately donned their oxygen masks, declared an emergency and briefly considered returning to Phoenix before the cabin crew told them of the extent of the damage, Sumwalt said.

"They discussed landing in Phoenix, but quickly upon getting the assessment decided to divert to Yuma because it was the closest suitable airport," he said.

The plane's voice and data recorders were being examined in Washington, and Sumwalt said they worked well and showed no sign of a problem before the incident.

Southwest operates about 170 of the 737-300s in its fleet of about 540 planes, but it replaced the aluminum skin on many of the 300s in recent years, a spokeswoman said. The planes that were grounded Saturday have not had their skin replaced.

A total of 288 Boeing 737-300s currently operate in the U.S. fleet, and 931 operate worldwide, according to the FAA. It declined to say Sunday if it was requiring other operators to check their aircraft for similar flaws.

A similar incident happened in July 2009 when a football-sized hole opened up in-flight in the fuselage of another of Southwest's Boeing 737s, depressurizing the cabin. Sumwalt said the two incidents appeared to be unrelated

Correction to Chapter 46 of "Fun with Flying"

In chapter 46 this reporter incorrectly stated that passengers fainted from lack of oxygen on the Southwest airlines flight that had a big hole in the roof. That was incorrect. It was a completely unrelated flight on the same day that lost oxygen, causing several passengers to faint, and force an emergency landing. Enjoy your flights this week, and make sure to watch the lesson on the oxygen masks! - HLG

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — Two flight attendants reported dizziness and four passengers fainted aboard an American Airlines flight Friday, forcing the pilot to drop the jet's oxygen masks and land in Ohio, an airline spokesman said.
All 132 people on Flight 547 from Reagan National in Washington, D.C., to Chicago's O'Hare Airport walked off the Boeing 737 after it landed at Dayton International Airport, but two passengers and a flight attendant were taken to hospitals, airline spokesman Ed Martelle said.
The two passengers were able to return to the airport and accompanied their fellow passengers on a replacement plane to Chicago. The flight attendant was admitted for overnight observation, airline spokesman Tim Smith said.
Christina Saull, a passenger from Washington, said there had been problems with the air conditioning and cabin-pressurization system before the plane took off, and maintenance personnel went into the cockpit of the plane on the ground in Washington, the Dayton Daily News reported.
After the flight took off, two women passed out and passengers started complaining about fumes or being lightheaded, Saull told the newspaper. Saull said she didn't smell anything, but a few minutes later, "they were announcing they were going to drop the masks."
Martelle said he wasn't able to confirm any of the details provided by the passenger, but he said the airline was investigating to determine the cause of the problems.
Dayton airport Director Terrence Slaybaugh said the pilot alerted the airport that some passengers were "complaining about the air and were experiencing some discomfort."

Fun with Flying Chapter 47

It has been a very busy week with Southwest. First little wholes in airplanes turn into big problems, then the FAA tries to steer one of their little ol' jets into another plane that the FAA had lost! You are now free to fly about the country!


Florida Air Traffic Controller Suspended After Planes Fly Too Close For Comfort
Southwest Airlines Passenger Safety Was Compromised, FAA Officials Said


March 30, 2011 Share:EmailTwitterFacebook

A Florida air traffic controller supervisor has been suspended after officials said he compromised the safety of passengers by letting two planes fly too close to each other, officials said.


A small private Cirrus SR22 plane heading to a nearby general aviation airport in Kissimmee, Fla., had been out of radio contact for over an hour, despite repeated attempts to reach the pilot.

The air traffic controller asked a Southwest Airlines jet heading to Orlando International Airport to check on the Cirrus' status. It was then that the Southwest plane got so close to the Cirrus that the pilots could see the two people in the cockpit.

The Cirrus was flying at 11,000 feet. The Southwest Boeing 737 was at 12,000 feet and some 10 miles behind.

The Southwest jet was carrying 137 passengers at the time.

Cirrus pilots contacted controllers and both aircraft landed safely at their intended airports.

In a statement FAA administrator Randy Babbitt said, ".. the air traffic controller compromised the safety of everyone involved. This incident was totally inappropriate."

The mishap comes just a week after the lone overnight air traffic control supervisor at Washington's Reagan National airport fell asleep in the tower, forcing two commercial planes to land without help.

NEW VIDEO FROM TSUNAMI / RADIATION RAVAGED JAPAN

BB

Fun with Flying Chapter 46

In this episode a little-old hole in the air-o-plane causes loss of oxygen and an emergency landing after some passengers pass-out for lack of O2.


Fuselage Rupture, Hole Ripped in Plane's Roof Force Emergency Landing
Published April 02, 2011
| Associated Press
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April 1: In this photo provided by passenger Brenda Reese, unidentified passengers take photos with cell phones of an apparent hole in the cabin on a Southwest Airlines aircraft in Yuma, Ariz. Authorities say the flight from Phoenix to Sacramento, Calif., was diverted to Yuma due to rapid decompression in the plane. FAA spokesman Ian Gregor says the cause of the decompression isn't immediately known. But passengers aboard the plane say there was a hole in the cabin and that forced an emergency landing. (AP)
PHOENIX – Federal officials said a "fuselage rupture" forced a Southwest Airlines flight to make an emergency landing Friday in an Arizona desert city, and passengers described a large hole at the top of the plane.
The cause of the hole was not immediately known.
"It's at the top of the plane, right up above where you store your luggage," passenger Brenda Reese told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "The panel's not completely off. It's like ripped down, but you can see completely outside... When you look up through the panel, you can see the sky."
Reese said the plane had just left Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport for Sacramento, Calif., when she awoke after hearing a "gunshot-like sound." She said oxygen masks then dropped for passengers and flight attendants as the plane dove.
Terrorism was not suspected because an FBI spokesman in Sacramento, Steve Dupre, said "it appears to be a mechanical issue."

The plane, which was carrying 118 people, landed at a military base in Yuma without any injuries reported, according to the airline. Reese said a flight attendant fell and injured his nose, and said some people "were passing out because they weren't getting the oxygen."
The National Transportation Safety Board said an "in-flight fuselage rupture" led to the sudden descent and drop in cabin pressure aboard the Boeing 737.
Ian Gregor, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman in Los Angeles, said the pilot "made a rapid, controlled descent from 36,000 feet to 11,000 feet altitude after the incident occurred."
"It dropped pretty quick," said Reese, who provided cellphone photographs of the cabin damage.
The pictures showed a panel hanging open in a section above the plane's middle aisle, with a hole of about 6 feet long.
Julie O'Donnell, an aviation safety spokeswoman for Seattle-based Boeing Commercial
Airplanes, confirmed there was "a hole in the fuselage and a depressurization event" but declined to speculate on what caused the incident.
Reese said there was "no real panic" among the passengers, who applauded the pilot after he emerged from the cockpit following the emergency landing at Yuma Marine Corps Air Station/International Airport, some 150 miles southwest of Phoenix and about 40 minutes after takeoff from Sky Harbor.
Gregor said an FAA inspector from Phoenix was en route to Yuma. The NTSB said it also was sending a crew to Yuma.
Gina Swankie, a spokeswoman for Sacramento International Airport, said passengers would be put on another flight to Sacramento later Friday.
"I fly a lot. This is the first time I ever had something like this happen," said Reese, a 37-year-old single mother of three who is vice president for a clinical research organization. "I just want to get home and hold my kids."
Holes in aircrafts can be caused by metal fatigue or lightning. The National Weather Service said the weather was clear from the Phoenix area to the California border on Friday afternoon.
In October 2010, a cabin lost air pressure when a hole ripped open in the fuselage of a Boston-bound American Airlines flight from Miami, also forcing an emergency landing.
In 1988, a Boeing 737 blew open at 24,000 feet when a 20-foot section of the aircraft's upper fuselage ripped off. An Aloha Airlines flight attendant was sucked out of the jet and killed, and 61 passengers were injured.

Eerie Blue "Cherenkov" Glow Seen over Fukushima Today

But please pay no attention to that, or some of the realister scenarios of what's to come, as reported by The Economist:

But even if the fuel doesn't melt, there are other dangers. The fuel rods could still get hot enough to damage their cladding and release radioactive particles into the air. And a completely dry pond would expose the rods to the open sky. If this happens gamma rays, which can pass through air much more easily than other radiation does, could pose a threat to anyone in the line of sight. That may explain why the army's helicopters seemed reluctant to linger over the site for long, and are reported to have been fitted with extra shielding. Gamma rays scattered off particles in the air—a phenomenon known as "skyshine"—could contribute to the raised radiation levels around the plant. At the site of the dried pond radiation of various different sorts, some with shorter ranges, would in all likelihood be too high for plant workers to get anywhere near, further hampering efforts to keep the situation under control. This is one of the problems Mr Jaczo was warning of, and it fits with reports that the police had to abandon attempts to fill the ponds using water cannon because radiation levels prevented them from getting close enough.