The Federal Aviation Administration is seeking answers from Southwest Airlines after another one of their flights flew perilously close to the ocean earlier this month. The incident has raised concerns about the safety measures in place at the airline and has prompted the FAA to investigate the matter further.
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Within the last four months, there have been three incidents that are similar to the recent Florida flight occurrence. In April, Southwest Flight 2786 had a scary moment near Hawaii when it dropped over 4,000 feet per minute and nearly came within 400 feet of the ocean’s surface.
According to CNN, Southwest stated that the incident happened as a result of bad weather conditions in the area, which forced the plane to abort a landing near Lihue Airport on the island of Kauai.
According to the Associated Press, a flight departing from Oklahoma City caused a low altitude alert for its crew on June 18 after dropping to a mere 525 feet from the ground, only nine miles from the airport. Recently, CNN reported that a Southwest flight en route from Columbus, Ohio, to Tampa, Florida, on July 14 had dropped to just 150 feet above the ocean’s surface, five miles from its destination.
These incidents have caught the attention of federal investigators, who have launched a probe into the airline to determine the cause of these occurrences.
Southwest is following its robust Safety Management System and is in contact with the Federal Aviation Administration to understand and address any irregularities,” Southwest’s statement said. “Nothing is more important to Southwest than the Safety of our Customers and Employees.
According to Pilot Robert Katz, the Florida flight’s sudden descent close to the ocean could be attributed to a combination of pilot exhaustion and unfavorable weather conditions during its final approach. As reported by the Tampa Bay Times, Katz emphasized that such a scenario was highly unlikely under normal circumstances.
Katz said that was a possibility — but only if the pilots were extremely fatigued. He said incidents like this typically occur when pilots are inattentive due to stress or fatigue, which can be made worse by poor weather conditions.“There are plenty of indications inside the cockpit that the airplane is getting too low,” Katz said. “Lots of checks and balances in place to get somebody’s attention to say, you know, wake up, do something.
Southwest, along with the aviation industry in general, has been facing a slew of issues lately. These latest incidents are just a small part of a larger problem. From Boeing’s plane safety mishaps to Southwest’s extensive flight meltdown during the 2023 holiday season, as well as near misses on runways, and airlines mishandling millions of passenger bags, it seems like now may not be the ideal time to fly anywhere.