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A Southwest Airlines Co. flight landed safely Saturday morning following a major malfunction of one of its two engines during a flight across the Southeastern U.S.
The Boeing Co. 737-700 was flying from New Orleans to Orlando early Saturday operating as flight 3472 when it suffered the failure, causing the jet to quickly divert to Pensacola International Airport in northern Florida at 9:40 a.m. CDT, according to a statement from the airline.
A Southwest spokesman said its initial reports indicated no injuries were reported among the 99 passengers and five crew aboard.
Photos taken aboard the flight showed the Boeing 737-700’s engine inlet completely torn away, revealing extensive structural damage to the engine nacelle that hangs underneath the wing. The spokesman said the failure caused a depressurization of the cabin. The jet’s fuselage, front edge of the wing, horizontal tail stabilizer and winglet were also damaged.
According to tracking data from FlightAware, the 737 was flying around 30,700 feet and climbing before it began descending around 9:23 a.m. CDT.
“There was the loud explosion but after that it was very controlled. Scary, but in control,” according to a passenger aboard the flight who didn't want to be named. “Everyone cheered for the pilot when we landed safely.”
CFM International, a joint venture between General Electric Co. and France’s Safran SA, is the sole supplier of engines to Boeing for the single-aisle 737. Southwest is the single largest operator of the single-aisle workhorse jetliner in the world.
The airline spokesman said the National Transportation Safety Board, Boeing and GE have been contacted by the airline.
A Boeing spokesman said in a statement that it would serve as technical adviser for any inquiry and said the plane maker is “working closely with our customer and CFM to understand the issue.”
A spokesman for GE said its investigators from the joint venture, which is the largest provider of commercial jet engines, was heading to Pensacola to examine the plane, which has been towed to a hangar.
Southwest in the past decade has experienced several high-profile incidents, including a botched landing at New York’s La Guardia Airport in 2013 that collapsed the jet’s nose landing gear, and the tearing away of part of an aircraft’s fuselage skin during 2009 and 2011 incidents, causing cabin depressurization. That prompted the Dallas-based airline to replace structural panels on many of its older 737s.
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