First a thud, then a hole in jet engine

Star Tribune

Last update: March 26, 2009 - 12:29 AM

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Northwest Airlines passenger Brandon Snetsinger said he was "just flying along above the clouds" when he heard "a thud."

"I looked out my window and noticed the hole in the engine," said Snetsinger, who on Wednesday recounted his hastily reconfigured trip from the Twin Cities to Phoenix on Monday and can count a photograph he took of the hole among his travel souvenirs.

Snetsinger, of Greenfield, Minn., said he waited a moment or two after the thud, but "with nobody from the flight crew doing anything different, I called for the flight attendant. She called the captain, and he came back to look.

"He walked a lot faster back to the cabin than he did to come check it out."

Flight 121 was diverted to Denver, where its 165 passengers were put on a different plane later that day.

The airline said the hole was in the left engine inlet of the twin-engine Boeing 757-200.

"The left engine inlet has been replaced, and the aircraft is back in service," NWA spokeswoman Leslie Parker said Wednesday. The damaged part is being examined by engineers to determine how the hole was made, said Parker, who added that the engine "remained fully functional."

PAUL WALSH