Southwest Airlines flight from Cuba to Florida forced to turn back after bird strike


(MENAFN) A Southwest airlines flight from José Martí International Airport in Havana to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport was forced to turn back after striking birds that caused an engine to catch fire and fill the cabin with smoke. The incident occurred on Sunday afternoon and no injuries were reported. According to a passenger, Steven Rodriguez, the impact sent fumes through the airplane, causing emergency oxygen masks to deploy. However, some passengers reportedly said that their air masks did not deploy during the flight. Rodriguez said passengers started taking matters into their own hands and punching the roof to eject the masks, causing some to have bloody knuckles. He added that there were little kids and elderly women on the plane.

After landing safely in Cuba, some passengers evacuated onto the wings through emergency exits while others used inflatable slides to leave the plane. The airline transported passengers and crew members to the airport terminal and planned to put the customers on a different flight to Fort Lauderdale.

Southwest Airlines did not immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press seeking additional information.

In another incident over the weekend, another Southwest Airlines flight was diverted from Raleigh-Durham International Airport in North Carolina to Myrtle Beach after an attempted landing at the original airport was aborted last minute at 1,350 feet. Passengers on that flight told the station that the plane shook "like crazy" prior to the attempted landing, causing one person to have a panic attack on board while multiple others vomited as the plane approached Raleigh. One passenger, Nicholas Reed, described the experience as "quite a horrifying experience."

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