A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-800 heading to Oakland, California from Honolulu, Hawaii. On December 25th, returned to its airport of departure after hearing unusual sounds from the direction of the windshield.
According to The Aviation Herald, the 737 with registration number N8328A was operating flight WN-1278. With19 passengers and five crew members on board when the incident took place.
After the plane had departed at about 14:25 local time. The crew stopped the aircraft’s climb at 14,000 feet and returned to Honolulu’s Daniel K. Inouye International Airport after hearing strange noises, the plane landed safely on runway 08L approximately 25 minutes after taking off earlier.
The short flight took passengers on a scenic tour of the south coast of Hawaii’s Oahu island.
Southwest organized for a replacement of 737-800 to serve the delayed passengers. Subsequently, registration N8307K got the travelers to Oakland with a three-hour delay.
Ultimately, the captain took the decision to return to Honolulu on the first flight so the odd noises coming from N8328A’s windshield can be inspected. However, workers on the ground did not find any mechanical problems.
According to Planespotters.net, the aircraft arrived at Southwest’s faculties in December 2012. It holds Manufacturer Serial Number (MSN) 38818 and came straight from Boeing’s production site in Renton. It forms part of Southwest’s fleet of 732 737s.
A spokesperson for the carrier shared further details about what happened.
“In an abundance of caution, the Captain elected to come back about 20 minutes into the flight to allow mechanics to have a look at the multi-layered windshield in the cockpit where they were hearing an unusual noise. There were no mechanical issues with the aircraft and, yes, an emergency is always declared to allow any change in landing location from the original flight plan. We have no reported injuries in the uneventful landing,” the spokesperson told Simple Flying.
“Our Pilots are going to operate the flight with a different airplane and get those Customers to Oakland tonight about three hours behind schedule. I understand our great People there in the gates at HNL have ordered pizza and are helping get these Customers through the delay for which we apologize. We place nothing higher than their safety.”
Source: simpleflying.com