Last weekend, a Spirit Airlines flight between Los Angeles & Kansas City had to divert to Phoenix, Arizona due to a burning smell observed at 35,000 feet.
Information has been released pertinent to this incident, which we will get into in this article.
Without further ado, let’s get into it…
Spirit Airlines NK816 – Los Angeles to Kansas City: Phoenix Diversion…
Spirit Airlines flight NK816, which suffered the burning smell and diverted to Phoenix, is a routine scheduled flight between Los Angeles & Kansas City.
Furthermore, the aircraft involved in the incident was N637NK.
As per data from Planespotters.net, N637NK is a 9.5 year old Airbus A320 that was delivered to the airline in January 2015.
Of the A320ceo variant, NK has 64 in their fleet.
Moreover, of that 64, all but two are in active service, with an average fleet age of 9.8 years.
Also, as well as the A320ceo variant, Spirit Airlines has the following other aircraft:
- 91 Airbus A320neos.
- 8 Airbus A319s.
- 46 Airbus A321 Family aircraft.
Spirit Airlines flight NK816, which suffered the burning smell, departed Los Angeles at 1449 local time on June 30.
The aircraft was in the cruise towards Kansas City when the incident began, as per The Aviation Herald.
Once the smell was observed in the flight deck, the decision was made to divert to Phoenix, Arizona.
The flight landed safely without further incident not long after that.
Moreover, the FAA released the following statement regarding this incident:
“Spirit Airlines Flight 816 landed safely at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport around 4 p.m. local time on Sunday, June 30, after the crew reported a burning smell in the flight deck.”
“The Airbus A320 was flying from Los Angeles International Airport to Kansas City International Airport.”
“The FAA will investigate.”
Aircraft Checked Over & Given Greenlight…
N637NK, the Spirit Airlines Airbus A320 involved in the incident onboard NK816 Los Angeles-Kansas City wasn’t grounded for very long.
Moreover, the aircraft was given a check by maintenance crews on the ground and was back in the air five hours later.
Furthermore, since the incident, the aircraft has operated the following flights:
- NK913 – Kansas City (MCI) to Los Angeles (LAX).
- NK594 – LAX to Oakland.
- NK595 – Oakland to LAX.
- NK591 – LAX to Houston.
- NK938 – Houston to Miami.
- NK3121 – Miami to Nashville.
- NK2177 – Nashville to Philadelphia.
- NK3806 – Philadelphia to San Juan.
- NK883 – San Juan to Orlando.
- NK1052 – Orlando to Pensacola.
- NK1053 – Pensacola to Orlando.
- NK134 – Orlando to Houston.
In conclusion, from the flights listed above, it is clear that the issue suffered on June 30 has been fixed by maintenance crews.
Overall, no additional incidents have been reported with the aircraft since the incident on NK816 Los Angeles-Kansas City.
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