I saw reports on Twitter about WN3472, a Southwest Airlines flight that lost an engine. WN3472 was heading from New Orleans to Orlando when something happened to one of the plane’s engines in-flight. At this point, it is still unclear to me what had happened, though smarter people than me on Twitter were looking at some of the pictures and theorizing
From Airlive.net and KOCO, one firsthand report said
It was just a big explosion. There was some smoke and then nothing,” she said in a phone interview with KOCO 5. “I saw parts flapping in the wind because it was right outside my window
On Twitter, I saw the following image of WN3472
You can also read Southwest’s official statement about flight WN3472, published on their Southwest Community Blog
Today, the Captain of Flight #3472 from New Orleans to Orlando made the decision to divert to Pensacola due to a mechanical issue with the number one engine. The flight landed safely without incident at Pensacola International Airport at 9:40 a.m. central time. Initial reports indicate there were no injuries among the 99 passengers and five crew members onboard. We have notified the NTSB, and when authorized, we will be inspecting the aircraft to assess the damage. The aircraft is out of service, and we will work to accommodate the passengers to Orlando or their final destination as soon as possible.
Although the picture above and everything happened in-flight and is quite striking, I have to agree with Seth from the Wandering Aramean, who said on Twitter
Disagree. Incredibly reassuring as to just how rugged and safe an airplane is. Landed safely, even like that. https://t.co/EJcYkIZp4r
— Seth Miller (@WandrMe) August 27, 2016
I can only imagine what it would have been like to have been onboard and I’m grateful everyone from Southwest Airlines flight WN3472 is safe!
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Just glad they have great pilots!
You should be glad they have great engineers and designers. Flying a plane with one engine isnt much different than flying it with two.
All three major TV network evening broadcasts got it wrong when they reported on an incident aboard Southwest Flight 3472 from New Orleans to Orlando on Saturday morning in which one of the engines explosively ripped away from the plane shortly after takeoff. There are pictures of the SW B-737 back at the airport gate and inflight pictures showing just the leading edge (approx. 20” front section) of the engine nacelle torn off. Appears to me the vibration came from a failure in intake turbine fan and something came loose at high-turbine speed and ripped off the engine nacelle’s aluminum leading edge. Hence only a small part of the engine nacelle was torn off and the jet engine is still attached to the wing