Back in April, a Southwest Airlines flight almost crashed off the coast of Hawaii into the ocean after the pilot accidentally sent the carrier into a steep dive. According to a concerning internal memo, the plane was just 400 feet from the water before it was righted.
The incident occurred after pilots were informed of bad weather conditions before attempting to land at Kauai’s Lihue Airport. Despite the weather conditions, the plane’s captain allowed a less experienced first officer to fly the Boeing 737 Max 8 plane.
The memo explained that the Southwest plane was forced to abort the landing due to the weather conditions. The plane’s pilot reportedly “inadvertently pushed the steering yoke forward” without reducing the plane’s speed. The mistake caused the plane to drop quickly from an altitude of 1,000 feet down to just 400 feet in a dive over the course of a few seconds.
Bloomberg reported that several warning alarms began going off inside the plane’s cockpit. The captain told the pilot to accelerate upwards, and the plane “aggressively [climbed] back up into the sky at a rate of 8,500 feet a minute.”
The plane was ultimately not able to land at Kauai’s Lihue Airport after the nose dive, so it returned to Honolulu to return to land safely. Thankfully, no one was harmed, and the plane landed safely. Regardless of the pilot not being as experienced as the captain, Bloomberg noted that they do have experience flying a plane as a first officer. They also were expected to uphold a certain standard as an employee operating a major airline like Southwest’s plane.
Southwest Airlines said, “Nothing is more important to Southwest than safety. Through our robust Safety Management System, the event was addressed appropriately as we always strive for continuous improvement.”
