Southwest Airlines 737-8 MAX diverts to Nashville after engine shutdown in flight

A Southwest Airlines plane was diverted to Nashville after the crew had to shut down one of its engines mid-flight. The Boeing 737 MAX 8, registered as N8727M, was flying at an altitude of 34,000 feet en route from Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport (BHM) to Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW) when the incident occurred.

The crew decided to shut down one of the aircraft's LEAP engines and initiated a diversion to nearby Nashville International Airport (BNA), where they landed on runway 20L approximately 35 minutes later. The deviation of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 from its original course can be clearly seen in the following image from Flightradar24:

The diversion to Nashville made sense because Southwest Airlines already has a large operation at the airport with staff and facilities to support it, as well as a replacement aircraft to continue the flight. According to the Aviation Herald, a backup Boeing 737 MAX 8, registration N8322X, was used to operate the remainder of the flight and arrived at Chicago Midway just over two hours late.

Data from Flightradar24 shows that N8727M was on the ground for about 20 hours before returning to service on November 6, operating flight WN2496 from Nashville (BNA) to Milwaukee (MKE).

Southwest Airlines and the Boeing 737 MAX

The incident occurred on November 5, 2024 and involved a Boeing 737 MAX 8 with registration number N8727M. According to Airfleets, this aircraft was delivered new to Southwest Airlines in September 2018 and is equipped with the airline's standard 175-seat all-economy class configuration.

Photo: BlueBarronPhoto | Shutterstock

Southwest Airlines is the world's largest operator of the Boeing 737 MAX 8, with the N8727M being one of 243 737 MAX 8s that make up the budget airline's fleet, alongside 363 737-700s and 205 737-800s.

Southwest Airlines has also ordered an additional 188 737 MAX 8s and 286 737 MAX 7s. Deliveries of the latter are expected to begin next year, with the aircraft replacing the older 737-700s, which currently have an average age of 19 years, according to ch-aviation.

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Birmingham Shuttlesworth International Airport

Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport is the busiest airport in the state of Alabama, handling just over 3 million passengers last year. Southwest Airlines is the largest airline operating at the airport with a market share of 30.8%, closely followed by Delta Air Lines with 30.2% and American Airlines with 28.0%.

Photo: Markus Mainka | Shutterstock

Southwest Airlines offers up to two daily flights between Birmingham (BHM) and Chicago Midway (MDW). The airline carried around 70,000 passengers on the route in the last 12 months, making it the seventh busiest route from Birmingham. The three busiest routes were:

• Atlanta (ATL) – 391,000 passengers
• Dallas (DFW) – 152,000 passengers
• Charlotte (CLT) – 136,000 passengers.

Southwest Airlines is currently the only operator flying between the two airports, although both American Airlines and United Airlines connect Birmingham to Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD) through their respective regional subsidiaries, American Eagle and United Express.

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