With 118 Passengers Aboard, Plane Lands Safely

A Southwest Airlines 737-700 enroute from Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport (LAS) to New York's Long Island Islip MacArthur Airport (ISP) last Thursday returned to its point of departure after developing engine trouble on climbout.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said that soon after takeoff, the 737's right engine caught fire. The flight crew shut down the engine and returned to LAS, where the plane with 118 passengers aboard landed safely and taxied to the gate.

By the time the aircraft landed, there was no visible smoke or fire coming from the engine, Southwest spokesman Paul Flanigan said. The plane was escorted to parking by airport fire and rescue crews. Clark County Fire Department spokesman Karl Lee told the Las Vegas Sun no one was injured in the incident.

Passengers were placed on another flight and departed for the second time, delayed about three hours by the ordeal. The original plane was towed to a Southwest maintenance hangar on the airport for investigation, and ultimately, repair.

FlightAware.com online flight tracking shows the flight departed LAS at 3:09 pm, headed for ISP. Upon reaching an altitude of about 7,000 feet, the Boeing 737-700 began to descend and reversed course in a sweeping right turn back to the west - and LAS.

Witness Jeff Kinney is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at UNLV, near McCarran's north-south flight path. Kinney described being in his office, hearing "popping sounds" and seeing small flames shooting from a Southwest jet's engine as it climbed out of McCarran Thursday afternoon.

"It was probably a couple hundred feet lower than most of them and it was making a different sound so it caught my attention," Kinney said.

The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.

FMI: www.southwest.com, www.faa.gov, www.ntsb.gov