In April, a passenger flight by Southwest Airlines Co. crashed into the ocean 400 feet off the coast of Hawaii after weather conditions forced the pilots to avoid a landing attempt.
According to a memo Southwest sent to pilots last week and seen by Bloomberg News, the Boeing Co. jet. The 737 Max 8 briefly plunged at an abnormally high speed of more than 4,000 feet per minute before the flight crew stopped to avoid disaster. . No one was injured on the flight, which returned safely to its departure airport in Honolulu.
After a request from Bloomberg, the US Federal Aviation Administration said it was investigating the incident.
Previously unreported accident improves safety incidents which have attracted public attention as airlines have increased flights since the pandemic. It also comes as Southwest management faces growing pressure from activist firm Elliott Investment Management and other investors over dissatisfaction with the company’s lagging financial performance and insular corporate culture.
“Nothing is more important to Southwest than safety,” the airline said in an emailed statement about the Hawaii flight. “Thanks to our robust safety management system, the event was managed properly as we always strive for continuous improvement.”
Southwest Flight 2786 dropped from an altitude of about 1,000 feet to 400 feet above the ocean in just a few seconds, according to data from ADS-B Exchange, a flight tracking website. The plane, located near Lihue Airport on the island of Kauai, then began a rapid climb.
The pilot “was bobbing up and down on the power and was close to going out of control — very close,” Keith Darby, a former commercial airline pilot and flight instructor, said in an interview after reviewing the details of the flight. “It would be like a roller coaster ride.”
According to Southwest’s review, the incident occurred after an aborted landing attempt due to inclement weather that prevented the pilots from seeing the runway at the designated altitude.
According to the memo, the captain decided to put a “newer” first officer in command of the short flight to Lihue, despite the forecasts.
The less experienced first officer “accidentally” pressed down on the yoke while following the movement of the engine control lever caused by the aircraft’s automatic throttle. The pilot then reduced speed, causing the plane to descend. Shortly thereafter, the warning system sounded, signaling that the aircraft was approaching the surface, and the captain ordered the first officer to increase thrust. The plane then “aggressively climbed” at 8,500 feet per minute, the note said.
Planes preparing to land typically glide downward at 1,500 to 2,000 feet per minute at the start of their approach and slow to 800 feet about five miles from the airport, Darby said.
The National Transportation Safety Board is not aware of the incident in Southwest, the spokesman said. The Southwest Airlines Pilots Association declined to comment.
Southwest declined to provide the flight number or date of the incident, citing an FAA-supervised safety program under which pilots and other employees can report problems anonymously.
In its review of the recent incident, the carrier concluded that proper monitoring of pilots and improved communication between crew members were critical. Among other things, it committed to reviewing industry and internal data related to its training procedures and protocols.
The incident in the southwest reminds event This happened in December 2022 when a United Airlines Holdings Inc. aircraft. flew about 750 feet from the ocean after suddenly crashing shortly after takeoff from another airport in Hawaii. The incident was investigated by both the FAA and the NTSB, which determined that the accident was due to a miscommunication between the pilots of the aircraft.
As a result of the incident, the pilots involved in this flight received additional training.
The Southwest index was little changed in regular trading in New York on Friday.