Southwest 737 Returns to Jose Marti with Engine Fire

[Corylax18]

The video below is pretty scary, apparently they hit some birds just after takeoff and the right engine caught fire. Even if you hit a bird, or a few, the engine shouldn't catch fire. The plane returned and landed safely without any major injuries. I've had a hell of a time with southwest airlines flights out of Havana, but nothing this bad! 

I'm sure ATC recordings and plenty of additional details will come out in the next few days. I can tell you one thing. SWA is going to have a HELL of a time getting a new engine down there along with the other parts needed to repair this plane. I wonder how southwest got everyone a hotel room for the night with out paying the government.......

 

[Corylax18]

Here's a link to another article, it mentions a flock of birds and more severe damage. The 737-8 involved was only 5 months old. That would be an expensive right off. 

https://simpleflying.com/southwest-737-max-emergency-landing-cuba/

[El Presidente]

....thank God it wasn't Cubana 😉

[Corylax18]

Here is a link to the Raw Video in the Cabin. Very Scary. 

 

[Fuzz]

Haven't seen that much smoke in a cabin since before they banned smoking on flights!

[MrBirdman]

That’s weird. If the engine did catch on fire it should’ve been quickly extinguished by the crew. Even at low altitude the plane can return to land on a single engine. If they pulled the fire handle and the plane still filled with smoke, that’s also concerning. 

[JohnnyO]

Not all of the masks dropped for the passengers. Some had to pound in the overhead space in order to get the masks to drop and some did not drop at all. I was on a SW flight the day before that got to Cuba and we had to turn around and go back. They had closed the airport for some Central American presidential ceremony and after a few laps around the island the pilot felt we were going to run out of fuel. John

[Corylax18]

On 3/6/2023 at 10:31 AM, MrBirdman said:

That’s weird. If the engine did catch on fire it should’ve been quickly extinguished by the crew. Even at low altitude the plane can return to land on a single engine. If they pulled the fire handle and the plane still filled with smoke, that’s also concerning. 

15 hours ago, JohnnyO said:

Not all of the masks dropped for the passengers. Some had to pound in the overhead space in order to get the masks to drop and some did not drop at all. I was on a SW flight the day before that got to Cuba and we had to turn around and go back. They had closed the airport for some Central American presidential ceremony and after a few laps around the island the pilot felt we were going to run out of fuel. John

Yeah, it appears the bird strike damaged both the right side Hydraulic system and (most important for the passengers) the bleed air system. It looks like that engine kept sucking bleed air into the ventilation system, which is where all that smoke came from. I'm guessing it may have messed with the O2 mask deployment as well. Its hard to tell from the photos/videos currently available, but it doesn't look like the fire burned all that long. 

From the video and screen grab I made below, it looks like the engine failure was Contained (the engine cowling didnt fall apart like the UA 777 over Denver a couple years ago) but i see at least 2 missing fan blades, so as those blades get sucked into the LP Turbine, it acts like a blender and shreds the carbon fiber fan blades. Using all that centrifugal force to throw those pieces into the accessories surrounding the engine. 

The video below isn't a great look. Apparently, by the time they landed, everyone was relaxed enough to grab all their luggage and hang out around the plane for some selfies. If their had still been a burning fire, things could have been much worse. There are other videos from one or more of those dipshits just hanging out on the wing, there should be 2 emergency slides on that wing, so I'm guessing someone didn't open the exits correctly?. 

From the video below, this screengrab shows at least two missing fan blades on the right engine and the Captains Windshield smashed up real good. They definitely hit a good size group of large birds. 

 

[MrBirdman]

1 hour ago, Corylax18 said:

It looks like that engine kept sucking bleed air into the ventilation system, which is where all that smoke came from. I'm guessing it may have messed with the O2 mask deployment as well. Its hard to tell from the photos/videos currently available, but it doesn't look like the fire burned all that long. 

I wonder if the damage is what kept the bleed air valve from shutting? I've read about a number of engine fires and don't recall them leading to that much smoke. And the O2 masks failing as well? Only thing I can think of there is some kind of electrical fault caused by the engine failure. It's a good thing no one on the plane suffered an asthma attack or it could've been an even worse day.

I know this has nothing to do with the earlier MAX issues but it's still not a good look for Boeing on a brand-new plane.

[Drguano]

Being Cuba, I am wondering how Southwest accommodated the passengers and crew and what is their plan to recover the aircraft. 

[Corylax18]

2 hours ago, MrBirdman said:

I wonder if the damage is what kept the bleed air valve from shutting? I've read about a number of engine fires and don't recall them leading to that much smoke. And the O2 masks failing as well? Only thing I can think of there is some kind of electrical fault caused by the engine failure. It's a good thing no one on the plane suffered an asthma attack or it could've been an even worse day.

I know this has nothing to do with the earlier MAX issues but it's still not a good look for Boeing on a brand-new plane.

As I understand it, the hot bleed air drives a compressor, that compressor powers the HVAC/Ventilation system. I'm guessing the leak/break was somewhere close to, or on that compressor. That white smoke looked a lot like the white smoke a car spews when a turbo bearing is shot. It comes from burning oil, in the compressor, on the compressor, etc. Engine Oil or Hydraulic fluid may have been spraying all over 500 degree jet engine parts, the smoke being sucked into the HVAC system. 

I don't know enough about how the O2 mask system to venture a guess at what happened there, but the aircraft didn't appear to depressurize, so it may have just been a sensor/software issue. They'll figure it out. 

2 hours ago, Drguano said:

Being Cuba, I am wondering how Southwest accommodated the passengers and crew and what is their plan to recover the aircraft. 

SWA Flew another plane down from Tampa that evening and got everyone to the states 6 or 7 hours late. The plane is still there and probably will be for a while. the NTSB usually keeps a plane like this in evidence for several weeks before the airline can even get it back to fix. Cuba Founded IATA and are still a charter member, so they should play by the rules regarding the investigation, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if the Cuban authorities dragged their feet. 

I'm not aware of any legal way for SWA to get a new engine down there. They would need some serious waivers from both the FAA and CAA to attempt a single engine flight back home, even if it its only a 110 mile hop. I'm guessing they'll figure something out. The air frame is only 5 months old, so it still holds major value. 

[Drguano]

57 minutes ago, Corylax18 said:I'm not aware of any legal way for SWA to get a new engine down there. They would need some serious waivers from both the FAA and CAA to attempt a single engine flight back home, even if it its only a 110 mile hop. I'm guessing they'll figure something out. The air frame is only 5 months old, so it still holds major value. 

Yeah, this will be interesting. I think the other US carriers will be watching this unfold. I know Delta had a mechanic ride on all flights going in and out of Cuba just to deal with issues but they don’t carry much in the way of spare parts and certainly not an engine.

[Duxnutz]

9 hours ago, MrBirdman said:

I wonder if the damage is what kept the bleed air valve from shutting? I've read about a number of engine fires and don't recall them leading to that much smoke. And the O2 masks failing as well? Only thing I can think of there is some kind of electrical fault caused by the engine failure. It's a good thing no one on the plane suffered an asthma attack or it could've been an even worse day.

I know this has nothing to do with the earlier MAX issues but it's still not a good look for Boeing on a brand-new plane.

The only thing automatic on a 737 is the chrono. If you look at the overhead panel of the 737 you’ll see lots of manual push switches, so the engine bleed would continue to provide contaminated (smoke) until manually closed by manipulating a toggle switch. They’ve gotta identify the failed/fire engine, run the memory item for that THEN pull out a checklist and go through it. Takes a few minutes, the most important thing is to keep flying the aircraft. 
 

The oxygen masks automatically deploy at a high cabin altitude (14000ft) usually due to depressurisation or when manually deployed through a manual push button on the overhead panel.

[MrBirdman]

1 hour ago, Duxnutz said:

They’ve gotta identify the failed/fire engine, run the memory item for that THEN pull out a checklist and go through it.

Makes sense, thank you. I guess I’m just surprised the fire handle doesn’t close it automatically (but I’m not an engineer!).