A Southwest Airlines flight bound for San Jose instead made an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday after the crew received an engine-related warning mid-flight. Southwest Flight 3396 had taken off from John Wayne Airport in Orange County and was headed to San Jose Mineta International Airport when it diverted, touching down safely shortly before 12:30 p.m.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the flight declared a general emergency shortly after takeoff and stopped its climb around 20,000 feet, broadcasting the 7700 transponder code that signals a general emergency to air traffic control. The FAA said the aircraft landed safely at LAX around 12:25 p.m. local time after the crew reported an engine issue, while LAX confirmed that Flight 3396 arrived without incident on Runway 25L.
Southwest said in a statement that its pilots diverted safely to LAX after receiving an engine-related maintenance indication, and the airline credited its crew with handling the situation safely. The New York Post reported that the airline said the pilots followed established procedures and landed the aircraft uneventfully.
What Triggered the Warning Remains Unclear
What exactly prompted the engine-related alert has not been disclosed. Southwest did not immediately provide details about the warning, and according to Telemundo 52, no information about the notification was available right away either. The outlet also reported that the FAA said it would investigate what prompted the midair diversion.
Passengers aboard Flight 3396 are expected to continue their journey to San Jose on a different aircraft. Southwest said it plans to arrange another plane to complete the trip, a detail also reported by Telemundo 52, which noted Southwest said it would relocate affected customers onto another aircraft headed to San Jose.
Engine Diversions Are Rare but Not Unheard Of
Engine-related diversions like this one are uncommon but do happen across the industry. Roughly 0.2 percent of the approximately 6.7 million commercial flights in 2022 were diverted, or about 15,826 flights, according to data cited by Edhat. The outlet also noted that 2025 saw 51 commercial aircraft accidents across 38.7 million flights industry-wide, citing IATA figures.
Other West Coast flights have faced similar scares in recent memory. A Delta flight from San Francisco to Los Angeles diverted to Fresno after pilots received warnings of a potential engine issue, landing without incident at Fresno Yosemite International Airport around 3:30 p.m., per Edhat's reporting. In a separate case detailed by KOB 4, a Southwest flight bound for Las Vegas turned back to Albuquerque's Sunport after its crew reported an engine-related maintenance indication, landing without trouble before passengers were placed on another aircraft.
Southwest has faced scrutiny over engine safety before. In 2018, a Southwest flight from New York made an emergency landing in Philadelphia after an engine exploded midair, killing one passenger and injuring several others, according to NBC News. That incident led the FAA to announce it would issue an airworthiness directive requiring inspections of CFM56-7B engine fan blades across the fleet.
