Southwest Boeing 737 Max heading to CA makes emergency landing in Orlando

A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 plane made an emergency landing at Orlando International Airport Tuesday afternoon. Two pilots were on board the plane when an engine overheated, according to officials. Officials said the landing took place before 3:15 p.m. on runway 36 and as it landed, the plane ingested debris which resulted in exhaust and discharge from the engine.

The plane took off from OIA at 2:47 p.m. and was scheduled to land in Victorville, California, at 4:54 p.m. for a repositioning flight. The plane was being ferried to the California airport for long-term storage.

It had no major impact on airport operations, a spokeswoman said.

A Southwest Airlines official said that the plane will undergo maintenance checks and once it is deemed safe to do so, it will be fly to California for storage.

Earlier this month, President Donald Trump ordered that all Boeing 737 MAX 8 planes be grounded after an Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed all 157 people on board.

Southwest and American were the only US airlines flying the 737 Max 8, with 34 and 24 planes in their fleets respectively.

Southwest is the second largest carrier at Denver International Airport and American has dozens of flights in and out of Denver each day.