In March 2023, Southwest Airlines flight 3923, a Boeing 737 MAX en route to Fort Lauderdale from Havana, Cuba, made an emergency landing shortly after takeoff when the cabin began to fill with smoke secondary to an engine failure and fire from ingesting a turkey vulture into its right engine.1 For those unfamiliar, turkey vultures are fairly large birds, having a wingspan of 160–183 cm (63–72 in), are 62–81 cm (24–32 in) long, and can weigh up to 2.41 kg (5.3 lb).
One passenger on the flight told NBC News that other passengers had “bloody knuckles” from punching open the overhead oxygen mask covers. 2
The FAA-approved “Dixie cup” oxygen masks will allow environmental air (and in this case, smoke) to enter the mask if the wearer takes a deep breath. They are not designed to prevent smoke from entering the mask.3
The oxygen masks provide “get me down” oxygen to prevent the passenger from becoming hypoxic if the aircraft undergoes significant decompression. They are not designed, nor are they likely to help in a smoke-filled cabin.
In this case, the turkey vulture ingested into the engine resulted in an engine fan blade breaking, causing the turbine to become unstable and generate significant vibration. The 737 Max has a system that helps stabilize engine vibration from the missing fan blade, but as a byproduct, also allows engine oil to leak into the engine, which then combusts and vents toxic smoke into the cabin.
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