The Cuban officials reported that an American aircraft which departed from Cuba experienced a motor breakdown after striking several birds, forcing it to return back to Havana for an urgent landing, as declared in the British newspaper “The Guardian” on Monday.
In a joint statement, Southwest Airlines Flight 3923 and Cuba’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAXA) released on their Facebook page that smoke had infiltrated the cabin; despite this, all passengers onboard were unharmed. The flight was en route to Fort Lauderdale, Florida at the time of incident.
In a statement, Southwest Airlines confirmed that the Boeing 737 which took off earlier was carrying 147 passengers and six crew members. Tragically, during climb-out birds collided with both the aircraft’s engine and nose cone.
Este es un video desde dentro del avión, en el que al parecer ha entrado humo a la cabina. Un pasajero ha declarado que se ha escuchado una explosión en uno de los motores, lo que ha ocasionado el aterrizaje de emergencia.
— On The Wings of Aviation (@OnAviation) March 5, 2023
📸 Unknown pic.twitter.com/Z4LgPKKca5
The pilots returned safely to their origin point of Havana and evacuated the aircraft due to smoke in the cabin. To ensure a safe passage for all passengers, they will be transferred onto another flight heading towards Fort Lauderdale. While an investigation into this incident is currently underway, passenger safety remains our top priority.
Passengers experienced terrifying moments in Southwest flight from Cuba to FLL after birds struck one of the engines which caused it to catch fire and cabin to fill up with smoke. Plane landed back in Havana, Cuba. The airline only reported minor injuries🙏| #ONLYinDADE pic.twitter.com/KzRdp3gXwC
— ONLY in DADE (@ONLYinDADE) March 6, 2023
Are birds a threat to aviation safety?
According to the “simpleflying” website, a specialist in aviation matters, bird strikes are a major risk for air travel and may cause serious injury. Investigations have revealed that only one fatality resulting from bird strikes is reported every billion flying hours – an impressive statistic considering the severity of such occurrences!
The research found that most bird-aircraft collisions prove fatal for birds, though the aircraft is rarely seriously damaged. Usually these incidents occur when a bird flies towards or into an engine or windshield.
Globally, the commercial airline industry is incurring a staggering $1.2 billion annually due to accidents and in the United States only there’s an estimated $400 million loss attributable to these mishaps, reveals a recent study.
Bird strike while this 737 is landing ✈️ pic.twitter.com/Veg6REKz7z
— Aviation (@ilove_aviation) July 17, 2022
