A Southwest Airways Boeing 737 MAX 8 arrives at Daniel Ok. Inouye Worldwide Airport on January 20, 2024 in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Kevin Carter | Getty Pictures
An engine cowling fell off of a Southwest Airways Boeing 737-800 and struck a wing flap throughout takeoff from Denver Worldwide Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration mentioned Sunday.
The FAA mentioned Southwest Flight 3695 was on its option to Houston’s William P. Passion Airport and safely returned to the gate at Denver at 8:15 a.m. native time. Southwest mentioned clients on the flight transferred to a distinct plane and have been scheduled to reach at their vacation spot three hours late.
“Our Upkeep groups are reviewing the plane,” Southwest mentioned. The FAA mentioned it’s investigating the incident. Southwest did not instantly reply when requested when the airplane and engine final underwent upkeep.
In response to a request for remark, Boeing pointed to Southwest’s assertion.
The cowling loss comes because the FAA investigates a separate Southwest incident in March. One in every of its flights strayed off beam and flew near the air site visitors management tower at LaGuardia Airport because it tried a touchdown in New York.
The airplane is an older mannequin of the Boeing 737 than the Max jets. Boeing is beneath heightened regulatory scrutiny after a January incident when a door plug blew off a virtually new 737 Max 9 when the Alaska Airways flight was at 16,000 toes, inflicting a near-catastrophe.
Boeing’s high quality management points have spiraled into security issues, slowing deliveries of recent Max plane. Huge Boeing clients like Southwest and United say the problems have affected their development plans.
The long-awaited FAA certification of its 737 Max 7 and Max 10 fashions can also be behind earlier schedules. Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun final month mentioned that he would step down by yr’s finish, and Boeing changed its chairman and chief govt of its industrial airplane unit.
