Airliner Lands Safely with Hole in Cabin

Southwest Airlines spent most of last night and this morning performing visual inspections of the fuselages of its fleet of planes and have reported no further problems. Meanwhile, investigators are heading to West Virginia to get a look at the hole that mysteriously opened up in the plane's cabin while in flight. The hole is being described as about the size of a football and is located at the roof of the cabin, just in front of the tail section of the plane.

There is little speculation at this point as to what would be a likely cause of that type of damage. Officials from the NTSB, Southwest and Boeing are all involved in the investigation, with officials stating that it may take months to determine the cause or viable theories as to what occurred.

The good news is that no passengers were injured and that the plane was able to land safely. The passenger seated closest to the hole was Michael Sullivan, and he spoke to NBC's Today Show about the experience. "After we landed in Charleston, the pilot came out and looked up through the hole, and everybody applauded, shook his hand, a couple of people gave him hugs," he said.

Although the cabin lost pressure and passengers were forced to use their oxygen masks, the plane landed without incident and there were no injuries reported.