The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) says it is investigating an uncontained engine failure on a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-700 that diverted to Pensacola earlier today.
The aircraft was operating flight 3472 from New Orleans to Orlando when the flight crew diverted following a “mechanical issue” with the aircraft’s number one engine, says the Dallas-based carrier.
The flight landed safely at Pensacola at 09:40 Central Time. No injuries were reported among the 99 passengers and five crew members, says Southwest.
Southwest Airlines Pilots Association
Photos posted on social media show extensive damage to the aircraft’s CFM International CFM56 powerplant.
“We have notified the NTSB, and when authorised, we will be inspecting the aircraft to assess the damage,” says the airline.
The aircraft involved in the incident is registered N766SW, and was built in 2000, Flight Fleets Analyzer shows. It had accumulated more than 57,200h and 33,400 cycles as of April.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
