Passenger recounts frightening engine failure on Alaska Airlines flight

SEATAC, Wash. — A Bay-Area woman recounts frightened passengers and flight crews aboard the Alaska Airlines flight that returned to Seattle Tacoma International Airport due to an engine failure.

Dabney Lawless was on the flight with her husband and 13-year-old son. She described feeling a big bump and a loud noise.

“It almost felt like when you run over something with a car.” Lawless said.

She says her son saw smoke outside the plane, but she couldn’t bring herself to look to confirm for herself. She remembers panicked looks from flight attendants and other passengers calling or texting their families to say they love them in case the worst happened. She and her family were locked arm in arm praying.

“My son was definitely telling me that he loved me and that [I] was a good mom, and it was very much preparing for a potential crash but also knowing well, it could be okay.”

Okay is how that flight ended, but the stress of the situations was too much for them to get back on another plane an hour after their original craft had landed.

Alaska Airlines says its maintenance crews are working to diagnose the issue. The airline has changed how it is describing the instance, saying on Sunday it the plane “experienced a shutdown” and on Monday the airline described it as a “precautionary shutdown.” The airline did not clarify what the change meant when asked Monday.

For Dabney Lawless, the lack of communication compounded the stress she and her family were feeling Sunday evening.

“There was really no instructions or no support or no help or no information,” Dabney Lawless said, “You don’t have to provide counseling, but you at least have a representative from the airline there to great people and make sure everyone is okay.

KIRO 7 spoke to several aviation experts who describe the situation as a “precautionary emergency” landing.

“Engine failures are not common, but they’re not unknown. Planes are designed to fly on one engine.” said Scott Hamilton. Hamilton is an aviation consultant with Leeham companies.

Hamilton says engines are designed to last for several years and pilots will do a visual check of the plane as well as its engines before every flight.

“Of course, he can’t look deep into the guts of the engine but that’s part of the walk around process.”

Alaska did not provide inspection information when requested. Boeing says the plane left its facilities in 1999, making the plane 25 years old.

“At some point the engine is taken off the wing and there is a major overhaul and that could be several years down the road” Hamilton said.

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