A Boeing 737 MAX 8 operated by Southwest Airlines diverted to Ontario, California, Saturday evening due to the “smell of smoke” in the cabin. The aircraft was briefly taken out of service, and the airline deployed a replacement aircraft to continue the flight. The occurrence plane was bound for San Francisco International Airport (SFO) from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) .
After inspections, emergency personnel could not determine the origin of the smoke smell, but had suspicions of where it may have come from. Flight path According to the San Francisco Chronicle , the flight was WN984, and data from Flightradar24 reveals that the aircraft is N1807U. The 737 MAX 8 departed from gate D7 at 19:20 – about 15 minutes past its scheduled pushback time of 19:05.
It taxied to runway 7L, where it was airborne about 11 minutes later at 19:31. The aircraft followed the normal east departure protocol from PHX and climbed straight out for a few minutes. Once it reached about 5,000 feet, it turned south and then west to assume its flight path.
At around 19:50, the plane had reached its cruising altitude of 38,000 feet and was heading northwest. About 20 minutes later, flight data shows the aircraft started to descend and change its course. As it flew past Victorville, N1807U turned back southeast toward the San Bernardino National Forest.
The smoke was detected in the flight deck, which resulted in the flight crew diverting to West Palm Beach. It continued its descent.