Originally Posted by
megan
A female passenger boarding what was to become the Hawaii convertible 737 noticed the crack but decided to say nothing on the premise that they (the airline) know what they're doing.
Originally Posted by
pa12 pilot
Forgive my skepticism, but that doesn't seem likely. Where was she when she noticed the crack?
Not likely, but a passenger did observe a crack while boarding. See second paragraph on page 11 :
Just to clarify, the page is numbered 5 in the original NTSB report, 11 in the .pdf file after title page, contents, executive summary etc.
The paragraph:
After the accident, a passenger stated that as she was boarding the airplane through the jet bridge at Hilo, she observed a longitudinal fuselage crack. The crack was in the upper row of rivets along the S-10L lap joint, about halfway between the cabin door and the edge of the jet bridge hood. She made no mention of the observation to the airline ground personnel or flightcrew.
The passenger was identified in contemporary news reports as Gayle Yamamoto.