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Alaska jet repaired after accident 06:47 PM PST on Thursday, December 29, 2005 By GLENN FARLEY / KING 5 News SEATAC, Wash. - A gash in an Alaska Airlines jet caused by a baggage handler has been fixed, according to the airline, but experts Thursday offered some perspective on the forces that came to bear on the plane when the hole popped open at 26,000 feet. No one was injured in the incident, which included cabin depressurization and a rapid descent to 10,000 feet so passengers could breathe. The plane is not yet back in service as the airline continues...

SEATTLE (AP) -- A 12-inch hole in the fuselage of an Alaska Airlines jet caused the plane to lose cabin pressure, forcing the pilots to make an emergency descent and return to the airport, authorities said Tuesday. The incident Monday involved an MD-80 jet en route from Seattle to Burbank, Calif. The plane landed safely at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, and none of the 140 passengers was hurt. A baggage handler acknowledged that he failed to report immediately striking the plane at the gate Monday with a baggage cart or baggage-belt machine, said Jim Struhsaker, a spokesman for the National Transportation...

Hole found in Alaska plane 05:30 PM PST on Tuesday, December 27, 2005 KING5.com Investigators: Problems spike after ramp work outsourced SEATTLE – An Alaska Airlines plane was forced to return to Seattle Monday after a gash in the plane’s fuselage caused the aircraft to lose pressurization. The incident began when a ramp worker hit the plane with a baggage cart or baggage belt machine, according to National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Jim Struhsaker. The accident created a crease in the skin of the plane which opened up into a hole when the pressure on the plane changed at 26,000...