The American Civil Aviation Agency (FAA) has opened an investigation after a problem that occurred Thursday evening on a Boeing 737 of the American company Southwest, which reported an “engine incident” just before takeoff.
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“Southwest Airlines Flight 1928 canceled its takeoff and returned to the terminal at Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport, Texas, (…) after the crew reported engine problems,” the regulator said, specifying that the incident occurred around 5:45 p.m. local time.
“The FAA will investigate,” she said.
The plane was scheduled to fly to Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The airline specified that the crew of this 737-800 NG (Next Generation) – a version prior to the 737 MAX – had “received an indication regarding a possible engine problem”.
The flight was “aborted safely” and “the plane returned to the boarding gate under its own power,” continued the company, which transported the 154 passengers to their destination Thursday evening aboard a other device.
According to a recording of exchanges between the control tower and the cockpit, available on a specialized site and consulted by AFP, the pilot mentions “overheating of the brakes” and “a fire in the left engine”.
The municipality of Lubbock said in a separate statement that the crew had reported “an engine fire” and that the city’s firefighters had been mobilized as a precaution.
“No passengers were injured,” she said.
Furthermore, the American regulator is investigating another incident that occurred with a Southwest plane which was due to land on March 23 at New York’s LaGuardia airport but which was diverted to Baltimore-Washington airport.
“Southwest flight 147 (…) encountered turbulence and low visibility” when it landed in New York, the airline explained in a statement sent to AFP.
For its part, the FAA specified that “an air traffic controller instructed the crew of Southwest Flight 147, which had deviated from its trajectory due to bad weather, to carry out a go-around » around 1 p.m. local time.
She said he was diverted to the Baltimore airport, where he “landed safely.” He arrived from Nashville (Tennessee).
The regulator has opened an investigation which should make it possible in particular “to determine whether the plane flew over the control tower at LaGuardia”.
