In the last few moments, a Southwest Airlines flight between Raleigh and Fort Lauderdale has declared an emergency after takeoff.
WN1954 is being operated by N919WN, one of the airline’s Boeing 737-700 aircraft.
Updates: Southwest Fort Lauderdale-Raleigh Declares Emergency…
This is a developing story. Updates to follow shortly.
UPDATE #1 @ 1819 UK time – Southwest Airlines flight WN1954 from Raleigh to Fort Lauderdale is currently at 3,000 feet as it awaits vectoring in for arrival. Reason for the emergency is unknown at this time.
UPDATE #2 @ 1820 UK time – WN1954 is entering final for Raleigh, minutes after its departure and transmitting a 7700 squawk transmission, and will not be continuing on to Fort Lauderdale.
UPDATE #3 @ 1821 UK time – As per Planespotters, N919WN is a 15.4 year old Boeing 737-700 that was delivered new to Southwest Airlines back in May 2008. The aircraft has remained in the carrier’s fleet the entire time and hasn’t switched hands with any other airlines.
UPDATE #4 @ 1825 UK time – TOUCHDOWN! WN1954 has touched down safely into Raleigh-Durham International Airport following its 7700 emergency transmission squawk broadcast just minutes after departure. AviationSource will approach the airline for a comment on the nature of the incident.
UPDATE #5 @ 1833 UK time – @FlightEmergency confirming that the cause of the emergency was a bird strike on departure, which disabled the flight’s ability to carry on to Fort Lauderdale.
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