Southwest Airlines flight from Sacramento makes emergency LA landing

Southwest Airlines Flight 1704 from Sacramento, California, was safely diverted to Los Angeles International Airport on Saturday, after the plane experienced "performance issues" with its wing flaps.

A Southwest Airlines flight from Sacramento, California, made an emergency landing in Los Angeles, after its wing flaps malfunctioned on Saturday, reports the Omaha World-Herald.

Flight 1704 was safely diverted to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) after “an indication of performance issues” with its wing flaps as it approached Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, said an airline spokesman.

The system has built-in redundancies for safe operation in such situations, said the spokesman.

The plane was diverted to nearby LAX because the airport has a longer runway and a maintenance base where the plane can be serviced.

The airline worked with 81 passengers on the flight to get them onto other flights or ground transportation, said the spokesman.

Flaps are part of the flight control system and impact plane lift and speed. The amount of lift generated by a wing depends on the shape of the airfoil, the wing area, and the velocity of the aircraft.

The velocity of an airplane is relatively low during takeoff and landing. To keep the lift high and avoid objects on the ground, airplane designers try to increase the wing area, and change the airfoil shape, by putting moving parts on the leading and trailing edges of the wings.

The part on the leading edge is called a slat, and the part on the trailing edge is called a flap. Metal tracks are built into the wings to allow movement of the flaps and slats.

Moving the flaps toward the tail and the slats forward increases the wing area. Pivoting the leading edge of the slat and the trailing edge of the flap downward increases the lift. The large rear-projected area of the flap increases the drag of the plane, which helps slow it down for landing.

The plane was out of service Saturday night, has been inspected and will be repaired before it is returned to service, said the spokesman.