NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – A bald eagle was sucked into the engine of a Southwest Airlines jet moments after takeoff from Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport in 2023, triggering a partial engine failure and filling the cockpit with smoke, according to a final federal report released Thursday.
The National Transportation Safety Board published its final findings on the Dec. 20, 2023, incident involving Southwest Airlines Flight 554, a Boeing 737-8 bound for Tampa.
According to the NTSB report, the aircraft struck and ingested a bird into its left engine during initial climb out of MSY in Kenner. The FAA’s Wildlife Strike Database identified the bird as a bald eagle…