FORT LAUDERDALE-HOLLYWOOD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, FLA. (WSVN) - Emotional reunions at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport after loved ones’ cabin began to fill with smoke following bird strikes to the engines of a Southwest flight.
On Monday morning, passengers were glad to be at their destinations and their loved ones are happy to have them back in their arms.
“I’m so grateful. I prayed to see my sons,” said Janet Gonzalez.
“I can’t even describe, but thank God she’s here already,” said Gonzalez’s loved one.
A Southwest Airlines flight was headed from Cuba to Fort Lauderdale on Sunday when birds collided with the engine.
“I just want to hold my daughters. I want to go home, take a shower,” said Jenny.
Jenny said she thought she was going to die because she couldn’t breathe. Others were worried that the oxygen masks would not work.
“I tried to get the oxygen when the oxygen masks came down,” recalled Janet Abbott. “We had to keep breathing and put our heads down. People were screaming, and I didn’t know what to do.”
According to the airline, as Flight 3923 was taking off, it hit a flock of birds, forcing the pilot to turn around and make an emergency landing in Havana.
But, on the way back, fumes filled the plane and caused the masks to come down for passengers.
“It was really hard to breathe; it was really acidic,” said the man traveling with Abbott.
Another man who only spoke Spanish said everyone was panicking.
Some passengers were evacuated through emergency exits and onto the wings of the plane while others used the inflatable slides.
Everyone is just glad to be in South Florida after the terrifying turn of events.
“It was very scary not knowing if we were gonna land on the ground or in a field,” said Abbott. “We didn’t know what was gonna happen. There was a lot of unknowing, and with the smoke it was really hard to know if we were going to survive.”
Southwest Airlines apologized to all the passengers and gave them a full refund for their trip and also a voucher for future flights.
The Federal Aviation Administration is currently investigating the incident.
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