A Southwest Airlines flight had to return to Denver International Airport early Sunday after the Boeing 737’s engine cowling fell and struck the wing flap during takeoff.
The early morning flight was en route to Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport when passengers and crew realized the engine cowling had been torn off and was flapping dangerously against the plane.
A hood is a removable metal cover on the engine.
A gruesome video showed plane parts flapping in the wind as the plane moved through the air. It’s the latest in a series of bad publicity and massive safety fears for the beleaguered airline.
The plane returned safely to Denver Airport around 8:15 a.m. after the incident. The vehicle left the gate at 7:39 am.
#BREAK: A Boeing 737 Southwest Airlines had to make an emergency landing after parts of the engine cowling came loose
Emergency services and authorities are currently on scene after a Boeing 737-800 Southwest Airlines flight WN3695/SWA3695 takes off… pic.twitter.com/eL8pP4uuY7
— RAWSALERTS (@rawsalerts) April 7, 2024
A Southwest Airlines flight made an emergency return to Denver Airport Sunday morning after a Boeing 737 engine bowled off shortly after takeoff
The flight later departed at 10:41 a.m. Mountain Time on another plane and was scheduled to land in Houston just before 2 p.m. Central Time.
In one video, the pilot can be heard saying over the in-flight PA system, “Let’s go ahead and declare a state of emergency for Southwest 3695. And we’d like to return immediately.” Apparently there’s a piece of the hood hanging off.’
According to several unconfirmed passenger accounts of the flight, the pilot had to be told that the cowling had been torn off the engine by passengers.
Just before a state of emergency was declared, the Southwest pilot then told Denver’s air traffic controller, “Everything’s fine for now.” We don’t even know the nature of it, but apparently several passengers and flight attendants heard something loud on the wing.”
‘I’m not 100 percent sure it was the engine. I think the flaps on the inside of the engine… between the engine and the fuselage were torn off during takeoff.
‘We don’t really see it from the cockpit, that’s just what the crew in the back tells us. “Our engines seem fine, but we are structurally damaged,” he continued.
A statement later issued by the Federal Aviation Administration read: “Southwest Airlines Flight 3695 returned safely to Denver International Airport around 8:15 a.m. local time on Sunday, April 7, after the crew reported the engine cowling fell off during takeoff and the wing hit. valve. The Boeing 737-800 was towed to the gate. The FAA will investigate.”
In a brief statement, a Southwest spokesperson said: “Southwest Flight 3695 returned to Denver International Airport this morning and landed safely after experiencing a mechanical issue. We are now working to get customers on another plane to Houston. Our maintenance teams are assessing the aircraft.”
In a video posted online by a passenger, the pilot can be heard over the in-flight PA system saying, “Let’s go ahead and declare a state of emergency for Southwest 3695. And we’d like to return immediately.” Apparently a piece of the hood is hanging off’
In January, an Alaska Airlines Boeing flight suffered a near catastrophe when an airplane door blew out at 16,000 feet over Portland
The incident is the latest in a series of safety problems and terrifying sights involving Boeing aircraft.
Last Thursday, a Southwest Boeing 737 was preparing to take off from Lubbock, Texas, to Las Vegas when pilots received a report of an engine problem.
The local fire brigade later confirmed that there was an engine fire that crews had to extinguish. There were no injuries among the 150 passengers and crew on board the aircraft.
On March 28, an Alaska Airlines plane flying from Hawaii to Alaska was forced to turn around after a bathroom flooded and filled the aisles of the Boeing 737 Max 9 with water.
The flight from Honolulu to Anchorage left the island just after 10 p.m. and was 90 minutes into the flight when the plane’s forward bathroom suddenly began to malfunction and leak water everywhere.
Rather than continue the six-hour journey to Alaska, the captain of Alaska Airlines Flight 828 decided to return to Hawaii to resolve the problem.
Video footage from one of the passengers on board shows flight attendants rushing to clean up the deluge, throwing as many blankets and paper towels on the floor as they can find.
The beleaguered airline is in the midst of a safety crisis involving its 737 Max jets, which caught fire after a door panel exploded on board an Alaska Airlines flight.
Insiders claim the company has become obsessed with diversity and inclusion policies, which they consider “anti-excellence.”
“The DEI story is very real, and at Boeing, DEI became tied to the status game. It’s something you embrace if you want to move forward. It became a means to gain power,” a source recently told City Journal.
‘It’s anti-excellence because it’s poorly defined, but it became part of the culture and was linked to compensation. Every HR email reads: “Inclusion makes us better.” This kind of politicization of HR is a real problem in all companies.’
A recent Alaska Airlines flight from Hawaii to Alaska was diverted back to Honolulu due to a flooded bathroom, causing water to fill the aisles
The US aviation regulator subsequently ordered the grounding of 171 planes for inspections before the order was lifted later that month (Photo: Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun)
The Boeing problems led to a major federal investigation and the ouster of CEO Dave Calhoun.
Since the Alaska Airlines outburst, the company has faced questions following several other potentially dangerous episodes, but regulators, airlines and passengers have been frustrated by Calhoun’s lack of answers. Shares had fallen 25 percent since the incident.
Calhoun, a veteran crisis manager, was hired in 2020 to guide the plane maker out of a reputational crisis after crashes in 2018 and 2019 killed nearly 350 people and grounded the best-selling 737 MAX.
But his tenure may not compare to his successful previous roles, which included stints at Caterpillar, General Electric and media company Nielsen, leaving as the iconic planemaker struggled to resolve production and safety issues.
The Jan. 5 midair blowout was the latest in a wave of safety problems that have shaken industry confidence in Boeing and hampered the industry’s ability to increase production to meet high demand for planes.
Under Calhoun’s leadership, the company has struggled to keep pace with rival Airbus.
Boeing stock has lost 43 percent of its value since Calhoun took the top spot on January 13, 2020, underperforming the benchmark S&P 500 index.
Rival Airbus has added more than 26 percent to its market capitalization in the same period.
While both aircraft makers have received huge orders for their planes as airlines try to meet the post-pandemic travel boom, Boeing’s production and quality problems have frustrated customers.
Airbus, meanwhile, has steadily increased single-aisle market share with its A320 family of jets in the wake of multiple crises involving the MAX.
