Jeremy Martin via Airlive and WSJ
A Southwest Airlines 737 made an emergency landing in Pensacola, Florida, Saturday after an uncontained failure of the number one engine. Passengers snapped photos of the engine, which was missing everything forward of the pylon after what those on board described as an explosion, followed by some smoke in the cabin and a rapid descent from 31,000 feet with the oxygen masks deployed. There were no reports of injuries among the 99 passengers and five crew.
The aircraft was on a flight from New Orleans to Orlando when the incident occurred at about 9:40 a.m. local time. Southwest issued a statement a short time later saying the diversion was due to a “mechanical issue” and that it was waiting for the NTSB before inspecting the damage, which may also include some fuselage ruptures. “The aircraft is out of service and we will work to accommodate the passengers to Orlando or their final destination as soon as possible,” the airline said.
