Incident to the Boeing 737 registered N8830Q on 20/12/2023 from New Orleans AD (United States)

Extract from the NTSB preliminary report :

History of Flight

The captain was the pilot flying for the incident flight, and the first officer (FO) was the pilot
monitoring. The flight crew reported that, after an uneventful takeoff and while climbing
through about 1,000 ft, the FO heard the captain say “bird,” which was followed immediately by
a “thump” on the left side of the airplane. The airplane began to “shake violently with a distinct
loss of thrust” in the left (No. 1) engine. The left engine master caution fire warning light and
the engine fire switch illuminated, and the fire bell sounded.

The captain called for Engine Fire or Engine Severe Damage checklist on the Quick Reference
Card. After the FO started the checklist, the flight deck began to fill with “acrid white smoke.”
The FO stated that he could not clearly see the captain. The FO called out “masks,” the pilots
donned their masks, and performance of the checklist resumed.

The flight crew declared an emergency to air traffic control and asked airport rescue and
firefighting (ARFF) to roll the trucks in preparation for the airplane’s return to MSY. The captain
stated that visibility in the cockpit was restricted and that he could see nothing beyond the FO,
who was holding the Quick Reference Handbook. The captain also stated that his instrument
panel was difficult to see and that he thought he might need to fly the airplane by solely using
the heads-up guidance system. The captain further stated that, after the engine fire switch had
been pulled, the smoke began to rapidly dissipate.

The flight crew notified the flight attendants about the emergency and made a public address
announcement to notify the passengers that fire trucks would be meeting the airplane. After
landing at the airport, the airplane came to a full stop on the arrival runway, and ARFF
inspected the airplane before the flight crew taxied the airplane to the assigned gate under its
own power. The passengers deplaned normally, and no injuries were reported.