Passengers on a Southwest Airlines flight from Cuba to Fort Lauderdale, Florida erupted in panic and chaos after the jetliner was forced to make an emergency landing following a bird strike.
Shortly after taking off from Havana, smoke began filling the cabin of flight 3923 after birds reportedly struck the plane’s engines and nose.
The Boeing 737 had 147 passengers and 6 crew members onboard, and the pilot was capable of return the flight to Havana safely. There have been no reported injuries, Southwest Airlines told The Guardian.
In shocking cellular phone footage recorded contained in the cabin, some passengers desperately attempt to punch the ceilings over their seats to release their oxygen masks because the smoke overwhelms the frightened travelers.
Screams, panic murmurings from adults, and the cries of a toddler are heard as passengers remain clueless about what is happening, with one traveler describing hearing a “boom” before the smoke began filling the cabin.
After the plane landed safely at Marti Airport, passengers were seen using the jet’s emergency slide to disembark the aircraft, with emergency personnel waiting nearby.
In one other video, the group of passengers were seen walking disorientedly down the tarmac, with many coughing violently and still screaming from the chaos.
When asked about what led to the horrifying incident, one passenger recalled hearing “a giant boom. Like an explosion.”
“To be honest, I believed it was my time to go,” Steven Rodriguez told NBC 6. “I used to be terrified.”
Several passengers on the Fort Lauderdale-bound flight said their air masks on the plane didn’t deploy when smoke filled the cabin.
“People began taking matters into their very own hands and by force were punching the roof to eject the masks,” Rodriguez said. “And other people had bloody knuckles and all because they were punching the roof. There have been little kids on the plane and elderly women.”
One other passenger, Jorge Montesino, said he witnessed the plane’s engine on fire, which prompted him to right away text his wife and youngsters to inform them he loves them.
When the plane landed safely, though still disoriented, passengers might be heard clapping and cheering in one in every of the cellphone videos.
“The feminine captain was incredible,” Montesino told the outlet. “With just one engine, the left engine, she was capable of turn the plane around and land safely.”
“We commend the swift, skilled actions of our pilots and flight attendants in responding to this event. We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience and have reached out to handle their needs and offer support,” Southwest said in a statement concerning the incident.
Radio Rebelde, Cuba’s state-run media, reported that the plane “detected failures in one in every of its engines through the takeoff process,” citing the Cuban Aviation Corporation SA (CACSA).
The CACSA reported that an investigation is underway and the airport would proceed its operations as usual, CNN reported.
Southwest Airlines said the corporate would “review the aircraft to evaluate the damage but would not have additional details to share at the moment” when asked concerning the reported engine failure.