19-Year-Old Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 Loses #2 Engine After Takeoff, Declares Emergency

Published Nov 6, 2026, 6:23 PM EST Journalist – Aaron is an aviation and travel journalist with 14 years of experience in the travel and tourism industry. His background spans airport operations, aviation infrastructure, and travel consulting, having worked with global organizations across New Zealand, Europe, and North America. Combining industry expertise with firsthand travel experience across more than 52 countries and five continents, Aaron covers airlines, airports, aviation policy, and the wider travel sector. He is based in Canterbury, New Zealand. His work has been published in Simple Flying and featured by MSN, SAM CHUI Aviation & Travel, EIN News, Pakistan Defence, and Climate Depot. On Friday a Southwest Airlines flight experienced an engine failure shortly after takeoff from John Wayne Airport-Orange County Airport (SNA). This resulted in the 19-year-old Boeing 737-700 declaring an emergency and diverting to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The service, on board one of the country's largest airlines, stopped its climb and squawked 7700, the standard broadcast for a general emergency to air traffic control. The flight, operating at Southwest Airlines 3396, was a scheduled service from Santa Ana to Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC), and during the emergency diverted to LAX, where the aircraft landed safely. Southwest Airlines Flight 3396 Lost An Engine Mid-Flight Credit: Markus Mainka | Shutterstock In a post by CodeThreeNews on X, the crew onboard confirmed to air traffic control that there were 97 souls onboard, and shortly after its departure from Santa Ana, the jet lost power to its #2 engine. The aircraft at the centre of the incident carries registration N281WN and was the 500th Boeing 737 delivered to the hybrid airline. It has accumulated more than 19 years of active service for the Dallas-based operator. Following the incident, the Federal Aviation Administration has since released the following statement, as shared by the Los Angeles Times: "Southwest Airlines Flight 3396 landed safely at Los Angeles International Airport around 12:25 p.m. local time after the crew reported an engine issue." Southwest Airlines shared the following statement with Simple Flying on Friday: Southwest Airlines Flight 3396 diverted safely to Los Angeles International Airport after the Pilots received an engine-related maintenance indication while flying from John Wayne Airport to San Jose Mineta International Airport. The Pilots followed established procedures and landed the aircraft uneventfully. We appreciate the professionalism of our Pilots and Flight Crew. Southwest will accommodate our Customers on another flights to San Jose. Nothing is more important to Southwest than the Safety of our Customers and Employees. Aircraft Left Circling The Skies Of Los Angeles Credit: Robin Guess | Shutterstock Reviewing data from the Simple Flying Flight Tracker, Southwest flight 3396 was scheduled to depart from Santa Ana at 11:35, for a quick one-hour flight north to San Jose. The plane eventually pushed back from the gate at 11:49, 14 minutes behind schedule. Taking off in a north-easterly direction, the plane quickly turned southwest after experiencing the engine issue, and the jet turned southwest for Los Angeles South Bay. Flight data shows that the plane never flew higher than 5,000 feet (1,524 meters). After 18 minutes above the Pacific Ocean, the aircraft was cleared for landing at Los Angeles International Airport, touching down safely on Runway 25L at 12:28, a total flight time of 38 minutes. Met by emergency services on arrival, passengers were eventually disembarked with no reports of injury. Affected travelers have since been reaccommodated onto a replacement flight which was set to depart at 1:13 PM. N281WN: 19-year-old Boeing 737-700 Credit: Daniel L. Locke | Shutterstock Having operated for Southwest for almost two decades, N281WN was first delivered to the airline in June 2007 and carries the '500th WN 737' sticker on its fuselage. The jet is configured to carry a total of 143 passengers in an all-economy-class layout. Southwest operates an all-Boeing 737 fleet, with around 270 737-700s in service, making it the world's largest operator of the type. Full details on N281WN are in the table below, as per ch-aviation: Aircraft Registration N281WN Serial Number (MSN) 36528 Line Number (LN) 2307 Aircraft Type Boeing 737-7H4 First Flight Date June 20, 2007 Delivery Date June 28, 2007 Plane Age 19.4 years Engines Two CFMI CFM 56-7B24 If an aircraft engine fails on takeoff, the crew will deploy asymmetric thrust control as the plane is likely to turn or roll on the dead side. This means the pilots apply opposite rudder and aileron to keep the plane level and maintain control. The crew will continue the climb if they are unable to stop the takeoff safely on the runway, and follow pre-calculated climb gradients while declaring an emergency to local air traffic control. As the crew runs through emergency checklists, excessive burning or dumping of fuel is possible while the jet circles back or diverts to another airport for a safe single-engine landing.