According to media reports, a Southwest Airlines plane was on its way to the US city of Fort Lauderdale from Havana to return to Cuba’s Jose Marti Airport on Sunday, following receiving news of an engine fire following a collision with a bird.
NBC6 News in the US state of Florida said a Southwest Airlines spokesperson confirmed the accident.
“Southwest Flight 3923 departing from Havana, Cuba, bound for Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Sunday morning, was hit by birds shortly following takeoff,” the spokesperson told the television news channel.
Mobile phone footage showed smoke filling the plane as terrified parents appeared to show their children how to fit oxygen masks.
Emergency lights were switched on inside the plane, and video showed passengers being evacuated through emergency slides on the runway at Cuba’s largest airport.
According to the news report, there were no serious injuries and all passengers were safely on the ground in Havana.
