Southwest Airlines Flight Suffers Engine Fire in the Air

A Southwest Airlines flight was hit with a scary situation this week as an engine fire forced a plane to return to the ground and sparked an evacuation for all of the passengers on board.

The flight was leaving Hobby Airport in Houston on its way to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, when it was forced to return to the airport as a result of an engine fire that broke out in one of its engines.

When the plane returned to the airport, the passengers were all evacuated from the flight, and firefighters extinguished the blaze as well as a small grass fire near the runway.

All 134 passengers were evacuated from the plane, and no injuries were reported.

“We appreciate the professionalism of our flight crew in responding to this situation. Nothing is more important to Southwest than the safety of our customers and employees,” Southwest Airlines said in a statement, according to the Associated Press.

The exact cause of the engine fire is being investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration.

The latest engine fire comes after a series of airline-related incidents have made headlines across the country, highlighted by the American Airlines commercial airliner that collided with a Blackhawk helicopter earlier this year.