Southwest flight makes emergency landing after cabin fills with smoke
According to the airline, the plane struck birds in the air over Cuba
A Southwest Airlines flight over the Caribbean was forced to make an emergency landing in Havana after its cabin filled with smoke on Sunday.
Passengers on board Southwest Flight 3923, which typically flies from Havana, Cuba to Fort Lauderdale, Florida reacted in terror when smoke began filling the cabin shortly after takeoff.
According to the airline, the plane struck birds in the air over Caribbean island nation, hitting the aircraft’s nose and engine.
The bird strikes sparked a fire in one of the engines, which filled the the cabin with noxious fumes.
In videos posted on social media, panicked passengers can be seen working to help children strap on their oxygen masks.
But according to passengers on the flight, some of the oxygen masks failed to deploy.
‘People started taking matters into their own hands and by force were punching the roof to eject the masks,’ one passenger told NBC6. ‘And people had bloody knuckles and all because they were punching the roof. There were little kids on the plane and elderly women.’
The plane was forced to turn around and make an emergency landing at Havana’s Jose Marti International Airport. Videos show the relieved passengers applauding as the touches down on the runway.
The plane’s 147 passengers and six crew members evacuated from the smoke-filled aircraft using the plane’s emergency slides, Southwest said.
More photos and videos show the relieved passengers running from the damaged plane onto the airport’s taxiway. They were then bussed back to the terminal, the company said.
Southwest confirmed that their Technical Operations Team is inspecting the aircraft to determine the extent of damage from the incident.
The airline apologized to customers and issued a refund for their flights to Fort Lauderdale. The passengers have since made it back to Florida as of Monday.
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