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Officials with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) are investigating after an engine cover on an older Boeing 737-800 (not one of the new, much-maligned 737 Max jets) blew apart during takeoff from Denver International Airport (DEN) on Sunday morning.
Southwest Airlines flight 3695 – bound for William P. Hobby Airport (HOU) in Houston, Texas – returned safely to Denver after the crew reported the cover falling off and striking the wing flap of the airplane.
According to video of the incident obtained by ABC News, the metal cover – or cowling – of the engine peeled off completely as the plane completed its return landing.
Take a look …
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“It all blew away,” one passenger can be heard saying in the video.
“Southwest flight 3695 returned to Denver International Airport this morning and landed safely after experiencing a mechanical issue,” a statement from the airline noted. “Our maintenance teams are reviewing the aircraft.”
Boeing declined comment and referred media to Southwest’s statement.
A clip from another passenger revealed a different angle of the incident.
Take a look …
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This same passenger posted a picture of the cowling coming off earlier during the flight – an image which showed the altitude the plane had achieved at the time the incident commenced.
In addition to reducing the engine’s protection from external pressures, a lost or damaged engine cowling can impact a plane’s thrust and aerodynamics.
“It’s not something (where) you’d want to finish flying to your destination and land,” an aerospace expert told us.
Last week, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner operated by United Airlines traveling from Denver to London was forced to land in Chicago after pilots discovered a crack in its windshield – the second cracked windshield found on a 787 jet within the last four months. Dreamliners are manufactured at Boeing’s crony capitalist facility in North Charleston, S.C. – which was built with the help of $1 billion in taxpayer subsidies.
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Two weeks ago, a Boeing 777-200 – also operated by United Airlines – en route from San Francisco to Paris was forced to land in Denver after the crew “reported a possible mechanical issue” while cruising at 33,000 feet.
As this media has documented extensively in recent weeks, Boeing is staring down an existential crisis regarding the airworthiness of its jets – and the alleged “culture of speed” that has placed profits over public safety. The company is also under fire for a fundamental lack of transparency. Federal regulators are also facing scrutiny for their handling of Boeing’s 737 Max fiasco.
Meanwhile, all of this is unfolding as our media outlet continues to investigate the suspicious “suicide” of a Boeing whistleblower in Charleston, S.C. last month.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina and before that he was a bass guitarist and dive bar bouncer. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and seven (soon to be eight) children.
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5 comments
It’s only a matter of time before one of these falls out of the skies and kills everyone on board. When are they going to ground these things?
Stop Boeing from making money? That sounds like commie talk to me. Why do you hate America?
And thanks to Trump and the GOP and their notions of “let industries inspect themselves” mantra, this is what we get–unsafe airplanes.
You are crazy!
It’s OK, Saint Friedman already brought down from on high the Holy Doctrine of Pinto. Whosoever believeth in profits shall die so we may have everlasting dividends. So sayeth the Sacred Marketplace!