Odors, rabbits and fires, oh my! Over the past week, three flights, involving American Airlines, United Airlines, and Southwest Airlines experienced disruptions due to unexpected issues. All returned or arrived safely—and all passengers appear to be okay now.
On Sunday, United flight 2325, which was traveling from Denver to Edmonton, Alberta, hit an animal, thought to be a rabbit, on takeoff. While the FAA says that roughly 20,000 wildlife strikes happen in the U.S. each year, most of these are birds, at approximately 97%. Other impacts include bats, terrestrial mammals, and reptiles. Only four rabbit strikes have been reported, with one of those being at Denver International Airport. The right engine caught fire, and the plane safely returned to Denver.
Then, on Thursday, Southwest flight 3006, scheduled from Houston’s Hobby Airport to Los Cabos International Airport in Mexico, experienced an engine issue and fire. The plane, with 134 passengers aboard, returned to Hobby, where the passengers evacuated on slides. No one was hurt, and it is still unclear as to the cause of the issue. There was a small fire on the grass adjacent to where the plane stopped, and firefighters also put that out.
Lastly, this morning, American Airlines flight 1784, from Chicago O’Hare to Charlotte Douglas International Airport landed in Charlotte after an odor was detected aboard not long before landing. The plane was able to land normally and taxi to the gate, but medics examined about six of the passengers; none of them needed further medical attention. The medics said their initial thought was a carbon monoxide issue, but no details on the odor or its causes have yet been determined.
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