Tonight new details on that terrifying midair scare part of a plane's cabin blown open

now hundreds of planes are grounded. Investigators racing for answers what caused

this hole in an Alaska Airlines jet at 16,000 feet.

Frightening new details from passengers, seat cushions sucked out.

All of a sudden I hear a loud boom gusts of wind.

Why federal officials say it could have been so much worse

as they search for the missing chunk of that plane. The snowstorm blanketing the northeast with up to a foot and a half of snow,

trucks jacknifing on highways, and the whiteout at an NFL game,

while in the south this tornado tearing down power lines.

Growing outrage after news that the Secretary of Defense was admitted to an ICU for days

and didn't tell the public or the president are Andrea Mitchell

pressing the Secretary of State. Were you aware of this? When did you learn of it?

Congressional leaders striking a tentative spending deal will it avert a

government shutdown just weeks away. Body camera footage just released police

shooting an 11-year-old boy inside his own home and an NBC news exclusive Mary Lou

Retton breaking her silence to Hoda Kapi why she's grateful to be here after a

life-threatening illness.

This is NBC Nightly News with Kate Snow.

Good evening, we begin with the investigation into that nightmare scenario in the sky.

You've probably seen it by now, part of a Boeing 737's cabin blown open in flight,

the near disaster on Friday, now sending shock waves through the aviation industry

worldwide.

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