Southwest flight makes emergency landing at LAX

LOS ANGELES, CA -- A Southwest Airlines flight from Sacramento, California, had to make an emergency landing in Los Angeles Saturday after its wing flaps malfunctioned.

Flight 1704 was safely diverted to Los Angeles International Airport on Saturday after "an indication of a performance issue" with its wing flaps as it approached Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, according to an airline spokesman.

Flaps are part of the flight control system and impacts plane lift and speed. The spokesman said the system has built-in redundancies for safe operation in such a situation.

It went to nearby LAX because the airport has a longer runway and a maintenance base where the plane can be serviced.

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

He said the plane was out of service Saturday night, has been inspected and will be repaired before it's put back in use.