Northwest investigates damaged nose cone

TAMPA, Fla., July 7 (UPI) -- Northwest Airlines says it's looking into why the nose cone of one of its planes was bashed in during a flight Sunday from Detroit to Tampa, Fla.

A passenger took photos of the damaged nose cone and sold them to CNN, telling the network the plane was towed away in Tampa instead of continuing on with its scheduled flight to Minneapolis-St. Paul. All 182 passengers aboard the plane arrived safely, the airline said.

Northwest spokeswoman Kristin Baur called the incident a "minor maintenance issue" and a "very rare occurrence," CNN said.