A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-800 suffered damage to the right engine cover after taking off from Denver International Airport on Sunday.
The pilots managed to stabilize the aircraft despite the incident affecting the flap mechanism. The Boeing 737 registration N8668A landed in Denver again 25 minutes safely.
Videos recorded by passengers show the engine covers coming loose after landing.
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There were 135 passengers and six crew on board. The FAA, the US civil aviation agency, said it will investigate the case.
The 737-800 N8668A belongs to the NG (Next Generation) series, one of the most numerous in Boeing’s family of single-aisle jets. It was manufactured in 2015 and has been flying since then with Southwest configured with 175 seats.
Paranoia in the media
The new incident with a Boeing 737 was once again widely reported by the non-specialized media, linking the problem with the aircraft manufacturer’s production failures.
Despite Boeing’s numerous mistakes and questionable attitudes in recent years, which have tarnished its reputation, several incidents reported in recent weeks are attributed to problems of another origin such as faulty maintenance procedures.
The paranoia with Boeing has been such that even common events in air travel are being publicized as risky situations, creating a dangerous climate of distrust among passengers.
The 737NG family, for example, has already had around 6,900 aircraft delivered and performs thousands of flights daily on all continents.
Boeing is facing the greatest public scrutiny in its history after an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 lost a door plug in flight in January.
The MAX series, which replaced the NG, has experienced several problems, including one that culminated in the crash of two 737 MAX 8s between 2018 and 2019.
