Southwest had to ground 34 planes Thanksgiving Eve

Southwest Airlines was forced ground 34 planes Thanksgiving Eve because of a paperwork problem. The carrier found that paperwork related to the grounded planes as not in compliance with FAA safety rules. As a result, Southwest had to do immediate, detailed visual inspections on the planes before they could return to service. The inspections focused on damaged fuselage areas that had been previously repaired. The inspections were required by an FAA mandate that Southwest voluntarily followed. The federal DoT's inspector general is currently investigating the FAA's oversight of Southwest's safety and maintenance culture, but the groundings were not related to that work. All were Boeing 737-700s. Southwest said the groundings and inspections had "minimal" effects on its operations that day. <br/>