A Southwest flight planned to operate from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) to Hollywood Burbank Airport (BUR) returned to Phoenix after the crew reportedly had to shut down the left-hand engine.
The flight had 116 passengers and crew onboard and had taken off from Phoenix Sky Harbour’s runway 07L. However, once at 12,000 feet, the crew reported that the left-hand engine had failed and they would need to ‘shut it down.’ The crew then requested to return to Phoenix and touched down only eight minutes after takeoff. Upon inspection of the aircraft upon return, it was reported by The Aviation Herald that the engine was leaking oil.
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WN9010
The Friday afternoon flight from Phoenix to Burbank was expected to follow the below schedule:
- Depart from Phoenix Sky Harbour International Airport (PHX) at 12:15, and touch down at Hollywood Burbank Airport (BUR) at 15:33. Flight time of one hour and eight minutes.
According to Flightradar24, the passengers were re-accommodated on a flight with the same flight number WN9010, and departed Phoenix as below:
- WN9010 departed from Phoenix Sky Harbour International Airport (PHX) at 14:35 and arrived at Hollywood Burbank Airport (BUR) at 15:45.
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N264LV
The aircraft in question, N264LV, a 16-year-old Boeing 737-700, remained at Phoenix for three days after the incident and has now returned to regular service. Operating its first flight on April 3rd, from Phoenix to Santa Ana, as below:
- WN3031 departed from Phoenix Sky Harbour International Airport (PHX) at 07:10, arriving at John Wayne Airport Santa Ana (SNA) at 08:12. Flight time of one hour and two minutes.
That day, N264LV continued in service with onward flights to Nashville, Raleigh-Durham, and Orlando. The aircraft has been part of the Southwest fleet since its inception, taking to the skies for its first time on January 10th, 2007. The aircraft officially joined the Southwest team on January 24th, 2007.
Air India and Westjet’s emergency landings.
Other airlines also experienced emergency landings in March. A SpiceJet aircraft flying between Delhi and Patna had to divert to Varanasi after pilots found issues with its braking systems. The aircraft had nearly reached its destination, but the pilots diverted it to Varanasi, which has a longer runway.
On March 3rd, a SpiceJet aircraft bound for Patna in East India had to divert to Varanasi due to a problem with its braking system. The Boeing 737 was performing a flight between Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport and Patna’s Jayprakash Narayan International Airport.
WestJet also had drama, as flight WS3252 was forced to divert to Kelowna International Airport (YLW) after suffering an engine failure shortly after takeoff. The Dash 8-Q400 flew from Kamloops (YKA) to Calgary (YYC) and was operated on behalf of WestJet by its regional subsidiary, WestJet Encore.
The aircraft had not long finished its climb out of Kamloops and reached a cruising altitude of 24,000ft when the right-hand engine flamed out and then failed. The crew immediately shut down the Pratt & Whitney PW150 engine and descended to a height of 10,000 ft.
Sources: The Aviation Herald
