Scary moments for passengers on a Southwest flight from Denver to Houston when the engine cover ripped off during flight , forcing the plane to return to Denver Sunday morning. pic.twitter.com/BBpCBXpTsl
— Sam Sweeney (@SweeneyABC) April 7, 2024
A Boeing Co. plane was forced to make an emergency landing Sunday morning in the United States after its engine hood ripped off and hit a wing flap during takeoff, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said. The Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 landed safely in Denver, Colorado, and the passengers were transferred to another plane.
Passengers on the flight filmed a dramatic video of the engine panel disintegrating during takeoff, when at that moment the pilot made the decision to make an emergency landing. The flight, which was scheduled to land in Houston with 135 passengers, returned to the airport in Colorado without further incident and no injuries were reported. A passenger named Lisa C. said that the engine cover fell apart about 10 minutes after boarding was completed. “We all felt some kind of bump or jolt, and I looked out the window because I like to sit by the window, and then I saw it.”
In the official statement, Southwest Airlines said that “We apologize for the inconvenience and delay, but we place our highest priority on the ultimate safety for our customers and employees. Our maintenance crews are examining the aircraft.” It is the second mishap in a week for the airline, with a flight from Texas canceled on Thursday after an engine fire was reported.
The plane was inspected and deemed airworthy in May 2015, according to FAA records, which announced Sunday that it would investigate the incident on the Boeing 737-800, the latest in a string of incidents involving a plane from the giant manufacturer. A Boeing 747 cargo plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Miami in January after it caught fire due to a “large hole” above the second engine.
More than 130 people were killed when a Boeing 737 operated by China Eastern crashed in March 2022, while loose screws and other technical problems led to a door of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 being ripped off mid-flight in January. The Boeing 737 Max 9 planes were grounded “indefinitely” by the American regulator in January, and the Boeing company has recently been dealing with an increasingly eroded image due to the same technical faults.