Southwest Airlines delays departure of Boeing 737 due to engine fire

NEW YORK (AFP): A Southwest Airlines flight from Texas to Los Angeles was forced to abort during takeoff on Thursday due to an engine fire on a Boeing 737 aircraft, the latest problem incident on a Boeing jet.

Southwest Flight 1928 “safely discontinued its takeoff roll” after cabin crew received an indication of a “possible engine issue” in the 737-800 jet, the airline told AFP by email on Friday.

No injuries were reported in the incident, according to the local fire department in Lubbock, Texas, which said in a social media post that there had been a “fire in one engine” of the plane.

The event adds to the woes facing Boeing, which recently announced sweeping personnel changes in the wake of a near-catastrophic incident in January when a fuselage panel on a Boeing 737 MAX 9 Alaska Airlines jet blew off mid-flight.

It also marks the second time in less than two weeks that a Southwest flight has run into trouble.

On March 23, one of its flights was forced to divert from a New York airport to Baltimore-Washington International Airport after reportedly coming dangerously close to the control tower.

In a statement, the airline told AFP the Boeing 737 plane had been diverted to Baltimore “after encountering turbulence and low visibility at New York LaGuardia Airport.”