Southwest Airlines flight WN4761 was diverted after crew noticed suspected fuel leak midair.
Boeing 737-800 aircraft was forced to make an emergency stop at Charleston International Airport on July 20, 2026, after the incident.
WN4761 flight en route from Orlando to Manchester, New Hampshire, was cut short in Charleston.
At the time of the incident, Southwest Airlines’ Boeing 737-800 was flying at an altitude of 37,000 feet above sea level crossing over South Carolina.
However, despite fuel leak concerns, the pilot managed a safe landing on Runway 15 at Charleston, with emergency response vehicles already reached there.
The flight took off from Orlando International Airport at 8:54 a.m. EDT.
After an hour-long flight path was covered, the crew alerted signs of a potential fuel leak, per AIRLIVE.
The pilot responded to the situation in line with safety protocols and declared an airborne emergency and relayed a “squawk 7700” transponder code to alert air traffic controllers.
The incident has triggered a 360-degree maintenance inspection to ascertain the cause of what led to the suspected fuel leak midair.
The incident has not reported any injuries to the 137 passengers and crew members on board WN4761 flight.
2026-07-21 12:04:00
