The Boeing plane was about to take off when the problem was noticed. The machine was commissioned in 2017.
The FAA said Sunday that a Southwest Airlines plane was returning to Denver International Airport in Colorado after the plane’s engine cowling fell off during takeoff and hit a wing flap.
The plane was a Boeing 737-800 and it was towed to the gate, the FAA says, according to the Reuters news agency. The plane was on its way to the city of Houston, Texas.
Southwest Airlines says they changed the plane type and the flight was completed three hours behind schedule.
An ABC News reporter shared a video on the messaging service X of a broken plane engine cowling, torn apart in the wind.
The machine was commissioned in 2017.
Boeing has had problems before
Boeing has recently been in extensive problems due to the safety of its planes, when parts of its planes have come off mid-flight.
The company’s CEO David Calhoun said that he would be leaving his position at the turn of the year.
Boeing’s long-standing problems came to a head in January, when part of the fuselage of the company’s 737 Max 9 model plane broke off on an Alaska Airlines flight. The plane made an emergency landing with a gaping hole in its side. At that time, the FAA ordered a temporary flight ban on Boeing’s model.