The value of life, friends and family has been greatly increased for Manteca business man Phil Rankin, 57, who spent “an eternity” during 30 minutes aboard the Southwest jet that had a 5-foot hole ripped in its fuselage at 36,000 feet over Arizona.
Following what sounded like an explosion on Friday aboard the Sacramento-bound jetliner, Rankin saw a four-foot panel section of the fuselage tear away and oxygen masks drop throughout the plane.
A man in the aisle seat of his row started yelling, “It’s a bomb – we’re all going to die!” just as the cabin pressure started dropping.
Rankin said the passenger’s wife told him to calm down. Wires were hanging from the ceiling and his first thought was to wonder just what they were meant to control.
When they got on the ground in Yuma, he called his wife to tell her what happened. Her reaction wasn’t quite what he expected – she thought he was playing an April Fools’ Day joke on her. She later said that she quickly realized he wasn’t kidding by the serious demeanor in his voice.
Rankin, operations manager for Mountain Valley Trucking, had gone to Phoenix to hand out awards to outstanding employees at the truck terminal there. He is scheduled to fly to Texas later in the month.
He took several pictures with his cell phone of the gaping hole three rows ahead of his window seat when the initial shock wore off and the 737 airliner was at a lower altitude. The FAA on Monday ordered emergency inspections on 80 U.S.-registered Boeing 737 jetliners.
“I was on the right side of the plane next to the window where your only visual was people next to you and the roof,” he said. “I started nodding off when I heard the explosion and the roof panel fell. We were under pressure and it actually blew the metal panel out.”
At the time of the decompression a loud buzzer sounded and two people across from him passed out followed by a male flight attendant who also lost consciousness in the front of the cabin.
“I can’t say enough about the employees,” Rankin said. “As far as I’m concerned they saved our lives – they were all very professional and knew what they were doing.”
Rankin said the pilot brought the plane down to 10,000 feet in four minutes.
“It was such a shocking thing as I didn’t feel the dive,” he said. “It didn’t feel like the plane was out of control as it took half an hour to get to the airport in Yuma. Fire trucks and ambulances were waitin for us to land.”
Rankin said that when the pilot set the plane down everyone cheered, applauded, hooped and hollered.
“We all thought we were going to die,” he added.
The Manteca man said he shook the pilot’s hand and thanked him, saying in his opinion he and his crew couldn’t have done a better job.
It took another hour and 20 minutes flight time to Sacramento once they got into the air in another aircraft. They were originally told they would have to deplane one-by-one and be searched because it was thought the explosion could have actually been caused by a bomb.
When he got back to Manteca he and his wife went up to their foothills’ cabin for a couple of days to unwind. He said both of their kids were upset. Daughter Katie, 22, is a college student and son Ryan, 25, is a Stockton police officer.
“I told him I loved him and he told me he loved me – something guys don’t share often enough,” Rankin said. On Monday morning he saw his daughter for the first time home from school, “she came up and hugged me,” he added with a sparkle in his voice.
“It’s only been a couple of days. I went through a lot of emotions in a half hour. I’m not ready to die, but I felt I had to be ready to die” he said.
Rankin said he has slowed his pace a little hoping to appreciate life more when possible. He added that life passes you by so quickly noting that he had just lost a good friend last weekend.
Most important in his life now: “To appreciate what you have and try not to lose contact with the people you love in your life.”
He said that his boss and owner of Mountain Valley Express, Scott Blevins, said he was very glad to see him Monday morning and voiced concern that everything was alright.
“It wasn’t my time. It doesn’t matter what you do or where you are, you don’t know what life has in store for you and we have to appreciate what we have,” Rankin said.
Following what sounded like an explosion on Friday aboard the Sacramento-bound jetliner, Rankin saw a four-foot panel section of the fuselage tear away and oxygen masks drop throughout the plane.
A man in the aisle seat of his row started yelling, “It’s a bomb – we’re all going to die!” just as the cabin pressure started dropping.
Rankin said the passenger’s wife told him to calm down. Wires were hanging from the ceiling and his first thought was to wonder just what they were meant to control.
When they got on the ground in Yuma, he called his wife to tell her what happened. Her reaction wasn’t quite what he expected – she thought he was playing an April Fools’ Day joke on her. She later said that she quickly realized he wasn’t kidding by the serious demeanor in his voice.
Rankin, operations manager for Mountain Valley Trucking, had gone to Phoenix to hand out awards to outstanding employees at the truck terminal there. He is scheduled to fly to Texas later in the month.
He took several pictures with his cell phone of the gaping hole three rows ahead of his window seat when the initial shock wore off and the 737 airliner was at a lower altitude. The FAA on Monday ordered emergency inspections on 80 U.S.-registered Boeing 737 jetliners.
“I was on the right side of the plane next to the window where your only visual was people next to you and the roof,” he said. “I started nodding off when I heard the explosion and the roof panel fell. We were under pressure and it actually blew the metal panel out.”
At the time of the decompression a loud buzzer sounded and two people across from him passed out followed by a male flight attendant who also lost consciousness in the front of the cabin.
“I can’t say enough about the employees,” Rankin said. “As far as I’m concerned they saved our lives – they were all very professional and knew what they were doing.”
Rankin said the pilot brought the plane down to 10,000 feet in four minutes.
“It was such a shocking thing as I didn’t feel the dive,” he said. “It didn’t feel like the plane was out of control as it took half an hour to get to the airport in Yuma. Fire trucks and ambulances were waitin for us to land.”
Rankin said that when the pilot set the plane down everyone cheered, applauded, hooped and hollered.
“We all thought we were going to die,” he added.
The Manteca man said he shook the pilot’s hand and thanked him, saying in his opinion he and his crew couldn’t have done a better job.
It took another hour and 20 minutes flight time to Sacramento once they got into the air in another aircraft. They were originally told they would have to deplane one-by-one and be searched because it was thought the explosion could have actually been caused by a bomb.
When he got back to Manteca he and his wife went up to their foothills’ cabin for a couple of days to unwind. He said both of their kids were upset. Daughter Katie, 22, is a college student and son Ryan, 25, is a Stockton police officer.
“I told him I loved him and he told me he loved me – something guys don’t share often enough,” Rankin said. On Monday morning he saw his daughter for the first time home from school, “she came up and hugged me,” he added with a sparkle in his voice.
“It’s only been a couple of days. I went through a lot of emotions in a half hour. I’m not ready to die, but I felt I had to be ready to die” he said.
Rankin said he has slowed his pace a little hoping to appreciate life more when possible. He added that life passes you by so quickly noting that he had just lost a good friend last weekend.
Most important in his life now: “To appreciate what you have and try not to lose contact with the people you love in your life.”
He said that his boss and owner of Mountain Valley Express, Scott Blevins, said he was very glad to see him Monday morning and voiced concern that everything was alright.
“It wasn’t my time. It doesn’t matter what you do or where you are, you don’t know what life has in store for you and we have to appreciate what we have,” Rankin said.
