Summary

  • Alaska Airlines flight forced to return due to fuel leak with rapper Tech 9Nine onboard, landed safely back in Kansas City.
  • Alaska Airlines apologizes and arranges alternative travel for affected passengers after emergency landing.
  • The Boeing 737-900 remains grounded following the incident.

An Alaska Airlines flight from Kansas City, MO, to Seattle was forced to turn around approximately half an hour in due to a suspected fuel leak. Rapper and Kansas City native Tech 9Nine was onboard the flight, which landed safely back in Kansas City.

Fuel leak forces Alaska 737 diversion

On June 7th, Alaska Airlines Flight 291 departed Kansas City (MCI) at 15:19 local time en route to Seattle-Tacoma (SEA). However, as per a report from KMBC, early into the flight, pilots received an indication of a fuel leak. In response, they shut down the aircraft’s No.1 engine and turned the plane around to land back in Kansas City.

An Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-900 landing.

Photo: Ian Dewar Photography | Shutterstock

Data from Flightradar24 shows the aircraft began to turn around just over 30 minutes into the journey before landing at MCI just after 16:30, with no injuries reported. Readers may be familiar with rapper Tech N9ine, who was born in Kansas City, Missouri and was on the flight. The rapper posted to his Facebook account that, while in the middle of listening to some new music, a flight attendant informed him of a potential fuel leak.

Airline statement

Alaska Airlines confirmed that pilots followed procedure and shut down one of the engines before landing back in Kansas City. In a statement, the airline said,

“Alaska Airlines is currently working to take care of the affected passengers and arrange their travel to Seattle. The airline also extends its sincere apologies to the passengers for the inconvenience caused.”

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24-year-old 737-900

The aircraft involved in the incident is a Boeing 737-900, registered as N302AS, built in June 2000 and approaching 24 years old. The jet is powered by two CFM56 engines and has accumulated over 67,000 flight hours and 28,000 flight cycles as of February 2024, as per data from ch-aviation.

alaska airlines 737-900

The narrowbody can seat up to 178 passengers in two cabin classes, with 162 in economy and 16 in business class. Interestingly, the airframe was initially used by Boeing as a testbed until it was delivered to AS in April 2003, around two and a half years after its first flight. It also spent over a year in storage during the COVID pandemic before returning to service in the summer of 2021.

Flightradar24 data shows that the aircraft remains on the ground in Kansas City, which, at the time of publication, is around 20 hours after the incident and counting. Fuel leaks are a serious safety concern, so the aircraft will undergo a rigorous inspection and maintenance protocol before it is returned to service.

Have you ever experienced a flight diversion? Let us know your stories in the comment section!

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