Boston-Bound Southwest Flight Aborted After Engine Catches Fire
About 10:45 p.m., Southwest Airlines flight 3299 aborted takeoff from Midway when smoke was seen in one of the engines. One passenger recorded the sparks flying from the engine. No one was hurt.
Once the plane stopped, passengers were taken off the aircraft and shuttled back to the terminal, where they caught another flight. The flight arrived at Boston’s Logan International Airport about 4 a.m., about three hours behind schedule.
One passenger said it felt like the front wheel of the plane exploded.
“The pilot said we have a flat tire. But then we looked out to the right, and the engine was actually catching on fire,” he said. “There was tons of police trucks, and fire trucks and everything. But it was like a big jolt as we were taking off like we were gonna go, and we stopped. It was pretty scary.”
