Southwest 737 flight makes safe emergency landing. No injuries reported.
A Southwest Boeing 737-700 made a safe emergency landing at Pensacola after experiencing an uncontained engine fire. Flight 3472 was enroute from New Orleans to Orlando when the incident occurred. 99 passengers and 5 crew members were onboard. No one was hurt.
Photos provided to Avgeekery by Twitter user @smillerddd3 showed the number one engine with significant damage. The cowling was missing. There was also a gash near the over wing emergency exit window. Damage also was visible on the leading edge of the wing and the leading edge of the horizontal stabilizer. During the incident, the flight also suffered a cabin decompression, presumably caused by damage to the fuselage that occurred as a result of the engine failure. A few passengers posted selfies with their oxygen masks on.
In a statement on the incident, Southwest posted:
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.
