Terrifying moment: Boeing’s engine cover falls off and hits the wing during takeoff, forcing Southwest plane to return to Denver International Airport.

A Southwest Airlines flight returned to Denver International Airport early Sunday after the engine cover fell off the Boeing 737 and struck the wing flap during takeoff.

The early morning flight was headed to Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport when passengers and crew realized the canopy had come off and was flapping precariously against the plane.

The engine hood is a removable metal engine cover.

The plane returned safely to the airport around 8:15 a.m. after the incident. I was out the door at 7:39 a.m.

The flight later took off on a different plane at 10:41 a.m. Mountain Time and will land in Houston just before 2:00 p.m. Central Time.

Videos posted online by passengers showed images of the hood hitting the plane’s right wing.

In one, the pilot can be heard over the flight’s public address system saying, “Let’s go ahead and declare an emergency for Southwest 3695. And we would like an immediate return.” Apparently we have a piece of the engine hood hanging off.

According to several unconfirmed accounts from passengers on the flight, passengers had to inform the pilot that the canopy had started the engine.

Just before declaring the emergency, the Southwest pilot told the Denver air traffic controller: ‘For now, everything is fine. We don’t even know the nature, but apparently several passengers and flight attendants heard something loud hit the wing.’

“I’m not 100% sure it was the engine. I think the fins on the inboard side of the engine… between the engine and the fuselage were torn off during takeoff.

‘We don’t actually see it from the cockpit, that’s just what the crew behind it tells us. “Our engines seem fine, but we are structurally damaged,” he continued.

A statement later given by the FAA said: “Southwest Airlines Flight 3695 returned safely to Denver International Airport around 8:15 a.m. local time on Sunday, April 7, after the crew reported that the deck The engine fell off during takeoff and hit the wing flap. The Boeing 737-800 was towed to the gate. The FAA will investigate.

In a brief statement, a Southwest spokesperson said: ‘Southwest Flight 3695 returned to Denver International Airport this morning and landed safely after experiencing a mechanical issue. We are now working to have customers travel to Houston on another plane. Our maintenance teams are checking the plane.’

Last Thursday, a Southwest Boeing 737 was preparing to take off from Lubbock, Texas, to Las Vegas, when pilots received a report of an engine problem.

The local fire department later confirmed there was an engine fire that crews needed to extinguish.

No injuries were reported among the 150 passengers and crew aboard the plane.

The embattled aviation company is in the midst of a safety crisis related to its 737 Max planes, which caught fire after a door panel exploded aboard an Alaska Airlines flight.

Insiders have claimed that the company has become obsessed with diversity and inclusion policies, which they consider “anti-excellence.”

‘The DEI narrative is very real, and at Boeing, DEI became tied to the status game. It’s what you embrace if you want to get ahead. “It became a means to power,” a source recently told City Journal.

‘It’s anti-excellence, because it’s ill-defined, but it became part of the culture and was tied to compensation. Every email from HR is: “Inclusion makes us better.” This type of politicization of human resources is a real problem in all companies.’