According to the criminal Complaint filed in federal court in Newark, NJ, Aksal boarded a United Airlines flight from Phoenix to Newark on August 20th, whereupon he took a seat next to a stranger: a woman passenger, who was sitting in the window seat.
The source of the problem that forced the Boeing 737-300 used on the Southwest Airlines flight 812 from Phoenix to Sacramento to make an emergency landing on April 1st, following a five-foot rent appearing in the upper-fuselage skin, has flummoxed engineers and safety officials alike.