Southwest flight diverted back to Denver as passenger describes ‘crying and screaming’ before landing

A passenger onboard a Southwest Airlines flight that was diverted back to Denver after suffering a tire failure says people in the cabin were "crying and screaming" before the plane made an emergency landing. 

Southwest Airlines Flight 225 – a Boeing 737-700, according to FlightAware – was initially heading to Phoenix on Monday night. 

"When the flight attendants said we were going to have an emergency landing, we started to panic a little bit," passenger Julianna Donadio told KDVR. "People were definitely crying and screaming and trying to console one another." 

"We knew we blew a tire, but we didn’t know what the landing gear situation was," she added, describing a loud noise during takeoff. "They started preparing us for crash position, so having our head between our knees, and they were informing the emergency exit line how to open the doors and operate potentially the slides." 

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A Southwest Airlines spokesperson told FOX Business that "a tire failed during takeoff." 

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"Following standard Safety procedures, the Pilots declared an emergency prior to landing. The flight landed without incident and taxied off the runway," the spokesperson added. "A separate aircraft operated the scheduled flight to Phoenix." 

"We thank our Flight Crew for their professionalism and our Customers for their patience," Southwest Airlines also said. 

"When we landed everyone was cheering and clapping," Donadio told KDVR.