While it wouldn't be ideal to have an engine fire or failure over the middle of the Gulf of Mexico, the jet can operate safely on one engine (and could've made it to Cancun). Southwest is one of the few major U.S.-based carriers to have never had a fatal crash.

Southwest Airlines has a remarkably strong safety record, but it has experienced one fatal accident involving a passenger due to an aircraft failure in its history. On April 17, 2018, Southwest Flight 1380 experienced an uncontained engine failure on a Boeing 737-700 while climbing after takeoff from New York's LaGuardia Airport. Debris from the engine shattered a cabin window, leading to a rapid decompression that resulted in the partial ejection and subsequent death of one passenger. This was the first passenger fatality in the airline's nearly 50-year history. Prior to this, in 2005, a Southwest jet overran a snowy runway in Chicago, resulting in the death of a child in a car on the street outside the airport, though no one on the aircraft was killed. Statistically, Southwest remains one of the safest airlines in the world, having successfully operated millions of flights since its inception in 1971. Their rigorous maintenance protocols and the heroic actions of Captain Tammie Jo Shults during the 2018 incident are often cited as testaments to the airline's professional safety culture.