Southwest Airlines is still reeling from the aftermath of a fatal engine failure in April. Now a report suggests the airline may be considering putting it back into service.
Southwest flight 1380 was en route from New York to Dallas when an engine blew out, causing debris to shatter a window and leading to the death of a passenger. Pilots managed to land the plane safely in Philadelphia, where it remained until April 30, when someone used a flight-tracking site to notice it was being flown to Everett, Wash.
An intrepid @airliners_net reader notes that N772SW — the aircraft in @SouthwestAir's April 17 uncontained engine failure — is flying from Philadelphia to Everett, Washington, according to @flightaware. Pic.twitter.com/TFOUpnT5EO
— Brian Sumers (@BrianSumers) April 30, 2018
The fate of the aircraft wasn’t known after that, but on Friday Business Insider reported that it “could be put back into operation.”
Asked about the company’s plans for the plane, a Southwest spokesperson gave Coins2Day a non-committal answer: “The aircraft has not returned to revenue service. The aircraft was flown yesterday to Victorville, CA for storage. No decision has been made about the future of the aircraft, so it’s premature to speculate about any future plans.”
Southwest is facing at least one lawsuit from passengers who were on Flight 1380. The company warned its investors Monday that revenue could fall 3% this quarter because bookings have declined in the wake of the fatal accident. Last month, a second Southwest flight made an emergency landing after one of the plane’s windows cracked.