A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 plane came within 400 feet of crashing into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of the Hawaiian island of Kauai after weather conditions forced pilots to quickly change course.
Southwest Airlines memo obtained for pilots by Bloomberg Newsdetailed Southwest Flight 2786 from the April 11 flight from Honolulu International Airport to Lihue Airport on Kauai.
Passengers were left white-knuckled after the plane fell from nearly 16,000 feet to an altitude of 409 feet.
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A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft departs San Diego International Airport en route to Denver on January 13, 2024 in San Diego, California. (Kevin Carter/Getty Images)
According to the Southwest memo, the incident occurred after an aborted landing attempt due to bad weather that prevented the pilots from seeing the runway at the specified altitude.
The memo noted that the captain opted to put the “new” first officer in command of the 100-mile inter-island flight, despite the bad weather.
The less experienced first officer “inadvertently” pushed the control column, which controls the plane’s pitch and roll, forward, then reduced speed, causing the plane to descend rapidly.
Makua Reef, Tunnels Beach, and Haena Beach Park on the north shore of Kauai, Hawaii. (Photo by: Jon G. Fuller/VW Pics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) (Jon G. Fuller/VW Pics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
The pilot’s aggressive movement caused the warning system to sound the alarm that the airliner was getting too close to terrain.
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The memo said the captain ordered the first officer to increase thrust, causing the plane to “climb aggressively” at 8,500 feet per minute.
Southwest Airlines Co is the world’s largest low-cost airline with headquarters in Dallas, Texas and a fleet of 802 Boeing 737 aircraft. (Nicolás Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The inter-island flight, which should have taken approximately 22 minutes, left Honolulu at 6:45 p.m., but after the incident, the plane returned to Honolulu at 8:09 p.m.
No one was injured during the hair-raising ride.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, a Southwest Airlines spokesperson said “the event was addressed appropriately.”
“Nothing is more important to Southwest than safety,” the spokesperson said. “Through our robust Safety Management System, the event was addressed appropriately as we always strive for continuous improvement.”
The Federal Aviation Administration told Fox News Digital that it is “investigating the incident.”
A United Airlines Boeing 777 flight, in December 2022, sank 775 feet. (United Airlines)
The Southwest incident is reminiscent of the United Airlines Boeing 777 Dreamliner crash incident that occurred off Maui in 2022.
He Boeing 777-200 It reached an altitude of 2,200 feet about one minute after taking off from Maui on December 18, 2022, before falling to 775 feet above sea level nearly 20 seconds later.
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“After landing at SFO, the pilots submitted the appropriate safety briefing,” a United Airlines spokesperson told FOX Business in a statement. “United then coordinated closely with the FAA and ALPA [Air Line Pilots Association] in an investigation that ultimately resulted in the pilots receiving additional training. “Safety remains our top priority.”
