A Southwest Airlines plane had to make an emergency landing in August after a blade broke loose from its jet engine, showering the aircraft with debris and causing cabin depressurization. The National Transportation Safety Board is continuing to investigate the "almost unheard of" incident.
None of the 99 passengers and five crew members aboard were hurt on the Aug. 27 flight from New Orleans to Orlando which was forced to make an emergency landing in Pensacola, Florida, according to Bloomberg,
An NTSB investigative update released on Monday said the "left engine inlet separated from the engine during the flight. Debris from the engine inlet damaged the airplane fuselage, wing and empennage."
A 5-inch by 16-inch hole was found in the left fuselage just above the left wing, but no fan blade or inlet material was found in the hole and the passenger interior compartment. The NTSB report said the airplane did experience a cabin depressurization.
"(The crew) stayed professional. They were amazing," one woman, who was not identified, according to CNN. "I mean, we couldn't have had a better crew, and it was thanks to that pilot that we're all alive."
"NTSB senior aviation investigator Tim LeBaron, the investigator-in-charge, is leading a team with expertise in the areas of airworthiness, powerplants, and metallurgy," said the NTSB. "The flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder were shipped to the NTSB recorder laboratory and the data from each were downloaded."
Michael Boyd, president of airline consulting firm Boyd International, told Mashable it was unusual for any major airline to sustain such serious engine problems.
"It's a one-off, almost unheard of," Boyd told Mashable. "Southwest has an outstanding safety record because it spends a lot of money on maintenance."
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