Report: The Southwest plane landed in 400 feet of ocean off Hawaii

US News

by Patrick Reilly

A Southwest Airlines plane was just 400 feet away from crashing into the ocean off the coast of Hawaii after a landing was canceled due to weather conditions, a report said.

On a flight in April, a Boeing 737 Max 8 suddenly plunged several hundred feet in a matter of seconds before the flight crew was able to stop at the last second to avoid a fatal accident, according to a memo Southwest sent to its past pilots. A week and Obtained by Bloomberg.

The airline said that no one was injured on the passenger flight.

Southwest Flight 2786 was flying at about 1,000 feet after attempting to land due to bad weather when it descended to within 400 feet of the sea, according to data from ADS-B Exchange, a flight tracking website.

It fell at an alarming rate of more than 4,000 feet per second, according to Bloomberg.

The panicked pilot began to climb as fast as he could.

The pilot “was pitching and landing hard and was close to going out of control — very close,” Kit Darby, a former commercial airline pilot and flight instructor, told the outlet. “It will feel like a roller coaster ride. “

The plane had left Honolulu for a short flight to Lihue Airport. Given the flight time, the captain appointed the “newest” first officer in command, according to the memo.

The pilot decided to cancel the landing as the plane approached the airport because weather conditions blocked the view of the runway.

The first officer “inadvertently” pushed forward on the controls while monitoring the thrust level moving based on the plane’s automatic throttle, the memo said.

To compensate, the pilot reduced the speed that caused the plane to descend rapidly and sounded the warnings.

The captain ordered the first officer to increase thrust, causing the plane to climb “aggressively” at 8,500 feet per minute, the memo said.

The plane returned to Honolulu, where it landed safely.

Darby told Bloomberg that flights gradually descend at 1,500 to 2,000 feet per minute as they approach their destination, reaching 800 feet at once about five miles from the airport.

“Nothing is more important to Southwest than safety,” Southwest told the newspaper in a statement when asked about the incident.

“Through our robust safety management system, the incident was handled appropriately as we always strive for continuous improvement,” the spokesperson added.

Southwest concluded that better communication between crew members was vital, according to the memo. It pledged to review industry and internal data to determine whether protocols and training need to be updated.

Bloomberg reported that the Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the incident.

The terrifying incident came just a month before a 73-year-old British man was killed when a Singapore Airlines Boeing plane hit severe turbulence on Tuesday – plummeting at 6,000 feet and sending unbelted passengers flying into the overhead bins.

Another 30 passengers were infected on board a Boeing 777 flight on May 21, which was heading from London to Singapore.

Singapore’s Transport Safety Investigation Bureau reported that the rapid change in gravitational force “most likely sent the unbelted passengers airborne”, while the second shift likely caused them to hit the ground again.