Flight attendants said it sounded like an explosion, but the visual was even more frightening.

An American Airlines plane lost a large panel while on a recent flight from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport to Paris, France. While the problem started before they left Dallas airspace, the plane did not turn back and crossed the Atlantic Ocean.

Flight 48 takes off from D/FW every day and heads to Paris. But just ten hours after a 767 twin engine jumbo jet took off on April 20, the flight came to an end with the discovery of the large hole that occurred only ten minutes into the flight.

"There was a loud shaking noise from the belly of the plane," read an e-mail from one flight attendant on board the flight.

Six minutes after the shaking, another jolting noise ripped throught the plane.

"[It] sounded like an explosion, or very large landing gear being ripped," stated the e-mail.

Despite complaints, the pilot decided to fly on to Paris. The flight seemed normal, until they landed and saw the large hole created by a ripped off panel that covers the air conditioner.

Officially, American Airlines will only say the fight is under investigation. However, a source inside the company said the pilot saw no warning lights and there was no loss of fuel or power. After checking with the maintenance base, the pilot assumed the noise came from a cargo door inside the plane that was left open. The source said the flight was never in danger.

But pictures of the gaping hole shocked one airline analyst, Denny Kelly.

"You get out over the water and you're three hours from anywhere and something else goes wrong," Kelly said.

Another inside source provided News 8 with a memo American sent to its pilots in relation to the incident.

"This captain did exactly what we want our captain to do," the memo read. "He did not make this decision in a vacuum; and sent his relief pilot to the back of the plane to listen for more noises, but there were none."

"Safety should be the first priority in a case like that," Kelly said. "You've got to land the airplane and find out what's going on."

American's memo stated that had they known the panel was missing, they would have turned around, which would have meant they had to dump 100,000 pounds of fuel first. So, it made sense for him to fly on, realizing he could land anywhere between Dallas and New York. When no problems developed, they felt it was safe to cross the ocean.

Kelly said they were just lucky.

E-mail greaves@wfaa.com