A Southwest Airlines aircraft was diverted to Nashville after the crew needed to shut down one of its engines mid-flight. The Boeing 737 MAX 8, registered as N8727M, was flying at 34,000 ft en route from Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport (BHM) to Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW) when the incident took place.
The crew made the decision to shut down one of the aircraft's LEAP engines and initiated a diversion to nearby Nashville International Airport (BNA), touching down on runway 20L some 35 minutes later.
The Boeing 737 MAX 8s' diversion from its original course can be clearly seen in the following image from Flightradar24:
The diversion to Nashville made sense, given that Southwest Airlines already has a sizeable operation at the airport, with staff and facilities on hand to support, as well as a spare aircraft to continue the flight.
According to The Aviation Herald, a replacement Boeing 737 MAX 8, registered as N8322X, was brought in to operate the remainder of the flight, arriving at Chicago Midway just over two hours behind schedule.
Data from Flightradar24 shows that N8727M was on the ground for around 20 hours before being put back into service, operating flight WN2496 from Nashville (BNA) to Milwaukee (MKE) on November 6th.
The incident took place on November 5th, 2024, and involved a Boeing 737 MAX 8 registered as N8727M. According to Airfleets, this aircraft was delivered new to Southwest Airlines in September 2018 and is equipped with the carrier's standard all-economy class configuration of 175 seats.
Southwest Airlines is the world's largest operator of the Boeing 737 MAX 8, with N8727M being one of 243 737 MAX 8s that make up the low-cost carrier's fleet, in addition to 363 737-700s and 205 737-800s.
Southwest Airlines also has a further 188 737 MAX 8s and 286 737 MAX 7s on order. Deliveries of the latter are due to begin next year, with the aircraft replacing the older 737-700s, which currently have an average age of 19 years old, according to data from ch-aviation.
Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport is the busiest airport in the state of Alabama, serving just over 3 million passengers last year.
Southwest Airlines is the largest carrier to operate at the airport, commanding a 30.8% market share, followed closely by Delta Air Lines with 30.2% and American Airlines with 28.0%.
Southwest Airlines operates up to two daily flights between Birmingham (BHM) and Chicago Midway (MDW). The airline carried some 70,000 passengers on the route in the past 12 months, making it the seventh-busiest route from Birmingham. The three busiest routes were:
- Atlanta (ATL) - 391,000 passengers
- Dallas (DFW) - 152,000 passengers
- Charlotte (CLT) - 136,000 passengers.
Southwest Airlines is currently the only operator flying between the two airports, although both American Airlines and United Airlines connect Birmingham with Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD) through their respective regional subsidiaries, American Eagle and United Express.
