SkyBahamas flight Q7460 returned to land at Nassau-Lynden Pindling International Airport, Bahamas when the crew was forced to shut down the number one engine. A passenger reported seeing “oil coming out of the engine.”
Five passengers and three crew on the flight were onboard the Saab 340 twin-engine turboprop commuter aircraft. It was scheduled to leave the capitol at 11:30 am but left 30 minutes earlier than planned.
While passengers clearly feared for their life, their anxiety was unnecessary as the flight crew performed a textbook single engine landing where emergency crews were at the airport.
Passenger Tim Alyn told Tribune 242, “I moved over to that window and saw oil coming out of the engine. At that time the stewardess said everything was fine and she said we would make it back to Nassau. The pilot also came on and said we were just flying on one engine. There was just a lot of concern because we didn’t know what happened.”
According to airline CEO Captain Randy Butler, shortly after take off, pilots reported a “strange” noise and apparent engine trouble. They were able to fly the plane safely back to Nassau without incident, he said.
