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'Smoke in the cabin': Southwest Airlines makes emergency landing after bird strike causes engine fire

A cell phone video taken during the chaos shows panicked passengers engulfed in thick smoke inside the aircraft

HAVANA, CUBA: A Southwest Airlines flight to Fort Lauderdale, Florida was forced to make an emergency landing, circling it back to Cuba after a bird struck one of the plane's engines and filled the cabin with smoke. Flight #3923 returned to Jose Marti International Airport in Havana soon after takeoff on Sunday, March 5, after an engine caught fire. 

A cell phone video, that was taken during the chaos shows panicked passengers engulfed in thick smoke inside the aircraft. Emergency oxygen masks were lowered and parents can be seen helping their children. Moreover, the circulated footage also shows passengers trying to escape the plane through emergency inflatable slides on the airport's runway. According to the Daily Mail, some of the oxygen masks didn't release properly which terrified many passengers and that led to banging on the roof in desperation and ending up with bloodied knuckles. Passenger Steven Rodriguez detailed the ordeal to NBC News 6 and said that there was "like a big boom, like an explosion,” before the cabin began filling up with smoke and emergency lighting switched on. 

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'The female captain was incredible'

The captain of the flight was praised and applauded for successfully making a safe landing at Cuba's Jose Marti Airport with only one engine functioning on the Boeing 737. "The female captain was incredible," Jorge Montesino told NBC 6. "With only one engine, the left engine, she was able to turn the plane around and land safely", he added.

'People started taking matters into their own hands'

Speaking about the chaos, Rodriguez said: 'It was like a burn smell, and it was hurting my face. My eyes got real red. My chest started to burn. People started taking matters into their own hands and by force were punching the roof to eject the masks. And people had bloody knuckles and all because they were punching the roof. There were little children on the plane and elderly women." According to the outlet, none of the 147 passengers and a crew of six suffered severe injuries. 

"The pilots safely returned to Havana where the 147 customers and six crew evacuated the aircraft via slides due to smoke in the cabin," a spokesperson told People. “The customers and crew were bussed to the terminal and are being accommodated on alternative flights to Fort Lauderdale," they added. The spokesperson further said that they "commend the swift, professional actions of our pilots and flight attendants in responding to this event. We apologized to our Customers for the negative experience, extending compensation for the inconvenience and offering additional support."