Southwest Airlines flight 2923 caught fire after a bird strike en route from Cuba to Florida, United States. The airline was operating a Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft when the flight was forced to turn back after a bird strike, which caused an engine fire. No injuries were reported and the plane made a safe landing at Havana-Jose Marti Airport in Cuba.
A video later surfaced on Twitter, showing the moment the plane’s cabin filled with smoke, and was confirmed by the airline. A passenger told WSVN that the impact sent smoke through the airplane and caused emergency oxygen masks to deploy.
adn40 pic.twitter.com/vE5RSrEHwI– Breaking Aviation News & Videos (@aviationbrk) March 5, 2023
Southwest Airlines Flight 2923 took off from Jose Marti International Airport in Havana on Sunday afternoon via Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, Florida. “The veteran bird strikes one engine and the nose of the aircraft,” the airline said in a statement.
Steven Rodriguez, a passenger, said, “It was like the smell of burning, and it was hurting my face. My eyes got really red, my chest started burning.” The airline said the pilots returned safely to Havana, where the 147 passengers and six crew members ejected from the plane on slides.
The airline bused passengers and crew members to the airport terminal and put passengers on a separate flight to Fort Lauderdale, the airline said.