Twin Cities-bound flight diverted back to LAX after engine emergency, Sun Country says
Sun Country Airlines says a Minneapolis-bound flight was diverted back to Los Angeles overnight Monday after an engine emergency.
Flight 430 departed from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) about 2:05 a.m. CST, , but a Sun Country spokesperson said the Boeing 737-800 "experienced an issue with one engine after take-off."
Edina, Minnesota, resident Kang Hu said he was on the flight with his wife and two daughters.
"I was watching outside. It was peaceful. It's dark out, and it's peaceful, you know. And then suddenly a fireball and a shake," Hu said.
The crew declared an emergency and turned back to Los Angeles, the airline says, safely returning to LAX just before 3 a.m. CST.
"The pilot made that big U-turn. You can feel that U-turn," Hu said.
He credits the crew with keeping calm.
"I literally approached the crew, the captain when we were at the gate. I told them, 'you guys are heroes,'" Hu said.
The flight, carrying 166 passengers and six crew members, finally arrived just before 3 p.m. CST — nearly eight hours behind schedule — at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
"[I] saw a bright flash, the plane kind of tilted a little bit," Sarah K., another passenger on the flight, said.
"Our passengers and crew are our priority, and we appreciate the professionalism of our pilots and flight attendants to ensure the safety of our customers," the spokesperson said. "We thank our passengers for their patience and have scheduled another aircraft to return passengers to MSP today."
This emergency comes just months after a Delta Airlines connection flight from MSP landed upside down on a runway at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Ontario, Canada. Nearly two dozen people were injured but all 80 people on board the Bombardier CRJ700 jet survived.
Delta later offered $30,000 with "no strings attached" to each passenger, a total of about $2.3 million. Delta also said passengers who took the money wouldn't forfeit their right to sue the airline, which multiple passengers still did.
A month earlier, four people were injured when a Delta flight bound for MSP made an emergency stop during takeoff at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The aborted takeoff was due to an engine issue with the Boeing 757-300 aircraft.
