A US airline Southwest plane had to turn back in mid-air on Sunday due to engine damage. The aircraft is a Boeing 737-800 – the series of breakdowns at the aircraft manufacturer continues.
Once again there were problems with a plane from the US aircraft manufacturer Boeing. A 737-800 en route to Houston, Texas, was forced to turn around in mid-air on Sunday after the crew reported that an engine cowling came off during takeoff and hit a wing flap.
The Southwest Airlines plane landed safely at Denver airport after the incident, said the US aviation authority FAA. There were 135 passengers and six crew members on board the Boeing, and no one was injured in the incident.
Airplane is checked after breakdown
Southwest said the passengers on Flight 3695 flew to Houston on a different plane about three hours later. “We apologize for the inconvenience caused by the delay, but our top priority is the safety of our customers and employees.
“Our maintenance teams are currently checking the aircraft,” it said. The 737-800 entered service in June 2015, according to FAA records. Southwest declined to comment on when the engine was last serviced.
Serious deficiencies at Boeing again and again
It was the airline’s second incident within a week. On Thursday, a flight from Texas was canceled due to an engine fire. The fire department in Lubbock, Texas, confirmed a fire in one of the two engines that had to be extinguished. The FAA is investigating both incidents. Both aircraft were Boeing 737-800s, an older model than the 737 Max, which recently caused problems for Boeing with a series of breakdowns.
Airbus rival Boeing is under stricter supervision by the FAA due to defects. At the beginning of January, a large piece of the cabin wall broke off during a mid-air flight on a 737 MAX. In March, a Boeing lost a wheel after takeoff. In October 2018 and March 2019, two Boeing 737 MAX crashed, killing 346 people. A few days ago, Boeing announced in the wake of the problems that CEO Dave Calhoun would be leaving the company by the end of the year.