Alaska Airlines flight to Oakland forced to return to Seattle after 'engine issue'

An Alaska Airlines flight headed to Oakland, California , on Sunday was forced to turn around because of an engine issue and head back to Seattle, Washington.

A passenger onboard the Boeing 737-700 described hearing a 'piercing bang' after it set off for San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport when the crew identified and reported a 'possible engine issue.' 

The Alaska Air flight 1240 touched down safely at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport at around 1:30pm that same day, according to a statement from the Federal Aviation Administration. 

Alaska Airlines said the flight's number one engine on the left side of the aircraft was shut down.

A passenger on the plane, Steven France, wrote about his experience once the ordeal was over, revealing that 'just after liftoff, we experienced a piercing bang.'

An Alaska Airlines flight headed to Oakland, California , on Sunday was forced to turn around because of an engine issue and head back to to Seattle, Washington

Alaska Air flight 1240 touched down safely at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, pictured, at around 1:30pm on Sunday

Records from flight radar show the plane circled above Seattle several times before making its final descent. It was in the air for less than a half hour

In a post to Facebook, France too confirmed the plane lost its number one engine.

Flight tracker data confirms the plane was in the air for less than a half hour, taking off at 1:04pm and landing back in Seattle at 1:30pm.

Records from flight radar show the plane circled above Seattle several times before making its final descent.

France thanked the captain and the first officer 'for their skill and training and for safely returning our damaged aircraft to the ground and saving 110 passengers and 5 crew.'

Alaska Airlines also put out a statement. 

'Credit to the crew for following standard procedures for this situation and landing safely without incident,' said the airline in a statement. 'We worked to take care of our guests and accommodate their travel to Oakland yesterday afternoon, and we apologize for the inconvenience.' 

The FAA said it will investigate the incident.

This comes months after another Alaska Airlines flight had one of its door plugs blow out mid-flight at a terrifying 16,000 feet in the air. 

This incident, which occurred on January 5, unfolded just minutes after the California-bound plane took off from Oregon.  

Some passengers' had clothes and their phones sucked out, while others were left injured when the gaping hole caused a sudden decompression.

This Alaska Airlines flight, a Boeing 737 Max, took off on January 5 and one of the door plugs, pictured, blew out in the middle of the flight

Pictured: The crash site of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302. The plane was a Boeing 737 MAX 8 and it crashed six minutes after takeoff on March 10, 2019. All 149 passengers and 8 crew members died on impact

Since it was yet another aircraft manufactured by Boeing, the FAA immediately grounded 171 Boeing 737-9 MAX aircrafts and has been pursuing 'aggressive oversight' of the company.

It's unclear how Sunday's incident will affect this ongoing probe.

Boeing has had a string of setbacks and bad press that has sent its stock plummeting more than 30 percent year-to-date.

Last month, the company accepted a $243.6 million plea deal that would see the company avoid a criminal trial over two deadly 737 Max crashes, one in October 2018 and the other March 2019. 

That's on top of numerous Boeing commercial planes having terrifying malfunctions midflight, company whistleblowers mysteriously dying and former CEO Dave Calhoun delivering poorly received testimony on Capitol Hill.

John Barnett, left, was a Boeing whistleblower who killed himself earlier this year. Joshua Dean, right, died at the end of April from a sudden illness

Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun takes his seat to testify before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Investigations with protestors in the audience

Boeing faced yet another blow this Saturday when NASA announced it would be relying on SpaceX to rescue Boeing's Starliner-1 crew Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams from the International Space Station.

The astronauts launched into space on June 5 aboard the Boeing Starliner-1, but the spacecraft had serious malfunctions with its thrusters.  

Their mission was supposed to last just eight days, but thanks to the faulty Starliner, Wilmore and Williams will have to wait until February 2025 to come home.

They'll hitch a ride on a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule.

This flight was supposed to be Boeing's last hurdle to overcome before NASA would feel comfortable certifying the Starliner to ferry astronauts to and from the space station on a regular basis.

SpaceX, for instance, has been taking NASA astronauts to the space station since 2020.

It's unclear how NASA will move forward with the certification process of the Starliner.