Quite an uncontained engine failure
 

https://twitter.com/raulcanelos/stat...68674420297728

Kudos to the crew for bringing it down safely. :ok:

Is it just me, or does it look as though all the actual engine-y parts are still intact? Like the fan and everything behind it?

Certainly looks like the N1 is intact, how'd they do it ? It's normally the back end that let's go not the front.

The failure for all appearances is the inlet duct, not the engine proper. The engine might have continued running albeit at lower thrust. Boeing will truck in a new inlet, the engine will be changed for an overall performance check, and someone in a farm field will collect some scrap aluminum for recycling.

That's why there's another donk on the other wing.

BTW, the absurd dialogue in that link is the reason I never signed up for Twitter.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cq40IDpUAAAcrqn.jpg:orig

Hi-res pic of damage to wing root and more scarily just below the windows.

Source: https://twitter.com/jonostrower/stat...074496/photo/1

Cowling separated...?
Interesting to find out how...

It appears that The Inlet Cowl has failed structurally as the remaining part of the assembly is still attached to the Engine Fan Case. The failure appears to have gone into the Wing Leading Edge and Fuselage then left an Oval shaped impact on the Stabilizer Leading Edge.

And possible loss of cabin pressure too as pax & crew were on oxygen: https://aviation-safety.net/database...?id=20160827-0

taxi in ...
 

Safely parked at the stand too :D.

It seem that we're missing the critical evidence in the cropped pic of the fan.

Most likely the engine was involved and contained, but the bits spitting forward did the damage.


Let's see what other pics turn up

red protrusions at top of nacelle
 

What are those two red levers? just to the left and right of top center of the nacelle and just forward of the pylon? They look like they ought to be pushed down into their slots.

Jon Ostrower of Wall Street Journal is doing some fine reporting on this right now..
https://twitter.com/jonostrower/stat...35472205242368

Some of the links in this thread don't work (at least not for me), but it appears all the fan blades are still there. About the only thing that could go wrong with the engine itself that could cause the inlet to separate would be a fan blade release and I don't see any evidence of that.
I'd wonder about a malfunction of the inlet anti-ice :confused:

I believe those just "appear" to be latches and we likely see some stress induced seam separation of the pylon or fan cowl assys. Nose/inlet cowl isn't attached using just quick release latches.
......

Cooked the cowl
 

Could this be a de ice valve stuck open overheating cowl structure?

That's a head scratcher! Never seen one do that before. Maybe took a combination... bleed air duct separation pressurizing inlet cowl and also precipitating especially violent compressor stall?

More pics including in flight
 

from comments in
WSJ

Kathryn's Report: Southwest Airlines, Boeing 737-7H4, N766SW: Incident occurred August 27, 2016 at Pensacola International Airport (KPNS), Escambia County, Florida

careful look at one shows minor damage to winglet !

How many fan blades should we expect to count ?

Are we missing one complete blade?

Any large holes out of view like the bottom of the nacelle behind the fan?

I sure don't understand the passenger masks deployment if true

Have you seen the picture showing damage to the fuselage, a little below and between two cabin windows? Looks as though it may have punctured the pressure vessel. Perhaps that is why masks deployed, and flight crew commenced an immediate descent to FL100.

(Will defer to those more knowledgeable.)

That sized hole/tear would probably be enough to trigger a mask drop- even though one engine would normally be enough to maintain a relatively slow decompression to perhaps 10K feet equivalent altitude. I'm sure the eventual report will be definitive in the actual cabin pressure rate of decompression versus altitude as the plane was descending.