The next time someone tells you it's a bad idea to allow firearms in an aircraft, because firing a bullet through the fuselage will bring it down (one of the many bogus arguments against allowing flight crew to be armed), point this out.

Well, that and the fact that most federal air marshalls use frangible bullets that are designed to stay in the body of whomever they shoot, and are taught to shoot well enough that they're not likely to miss.

I think the MythBusters discussed this on their show as well, and came to a similar conclusion (albeit without the same dramatic situation as in this report).

There was actually a blogger on that plane! He posted his story and some pictures at "jeremyhermanns.org". And, apparently, got some angry comments from an Alaska Air IP.

This isn't the only time something like this has happened. Check out Aloha Flight 243 for a much more vivid example.

Yes, the Mythbusters busted that myth already.

The bullet thing is a myth, but banking on holes not bringing aircraft down isn't a bet I'd like to make.

There's been at least one crash this year brought on by loss of cabin pressure (or that's the current assumption I've seen). I can also think of a few other high profile crashes brought on by cabin pressure loss at high altitude.