A Sun Country Airlines Boeing 737
NG flying out of Phoenix to Minneapolis returned to the airport shortly after departure due to an issue with one of its two CFM56 engines. The aircraft landed safely on its departure runway, and no injuries were reported among the crew or passengers.

An engine event

Sun Country Airlines
Flight SCX606 flies nonstop from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
(PHX) to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport
(MSP). However, the November 26th flight was more eventful than the airline had planned.

Sun Country Boeing 737-800 taking off.

Photo: Sun Country Airlines

According to data from Flightradar24, the aircraft took off from PHX’s runway 25R on time at 17:12 local time and landed safely on runway 26 at 17:27, with a total flight time of 15 minutes. According to ADS-B data, the aircraft took off and flew just one circuit before landing. As a result, we can assume the aircraft was below landing weight and didn’t require additional time to burn fuel before landing.

In a statement to FOX10 Phoenix, Sun Country Airlines said:

“Our flight 606 from Phoenix to Minneapolis-St. Paul experienced an engine event shortly after departure at 5:11 pm local time on Tuesday, November 26, 2024. Our pilots followed their standard procedures, and the flight returned to PHX where it landed safely and taxied to its gate. Passengers were deplaned and have returned to MSP Wednesday morning on a new aircraft. There were 174 passengers and six crew members onboard. As always, the safety of our passengers and the safety of our crews are our priority. Our maintenance team is inspecting the aircraft to determine the cause of the event.”

Sun Country Airlines Boeing 737

Photo: Ian Dewar Photography | Shutterstock

The flight was operated using a Boeing 737-800
, registration N849SY, equipped with two CFM
International CFM56
-7B26/3 turbofan engines. According to data from ch-aviation, the aircraft is 9.77 years old and was delivered to Sun Country Airlines on April 1st, 2022. Norwegian Air Shuttle AOC ordered and initially owned the aircraft.

Aftermath and passenger experience

According to passengers, they heard a loud bang shortly after takeoff and saw a flash of light. The cause of the engine issue is unknown. Passengers were deplaned shortly after landing and had to wait until Wednesday morning for a replacement aircraft to take them to MSP.

Sun Country Airlines Boeing 737-800

Photo: natmac stock | Shutterstock

Whitney Moore, a passenger on the flight, recounted her experience onboard:

“It happened probably within the first minute of, you know, getting off the ground. We were inclining, and all of a sudden, we heard this loud boom or bang and saw a flash of light. We were all the way toward the back, so we were behind the engine. We could see a flash of light, and then all of a sudden, you just kind of felt us not going upwards and kind of angling a little bit.”

She also spoke about a lack of communication from Sun Country after landing, stating that many travelers were around for the holiday week, and it wasn’t immediately clear when they would be put on a flight back to MSP. However, the airline later confirmed that the replacement aircraft would take willing passengers to MSP the next morning.

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