Southwest Flight Comes Within 150 Feet Of Crashing Into The Ocean

Image: Kevin Carter (Getty Images)

Another Southwest flight flew dangerously close to the ocean this month and now the Federal Aviation Administration wants to know what the heck is going on at the airline.

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The Florida flight is one of three similar incidents that have happened in the last four months. Back in April, Southwest flight 2786 near Hawaii plunged over 4,000 feet per minute before coming within 400 feet of the ocean’s surface. According to CNN, Southwest said the incident happened after bad weather conditions in the area forced the plane to abort a landing near Lihue Airport on the island of Kauai.

Then the Associated Press reported that on June 18 a flight out of Oklahoma City triggered a low altitude alert for its crew after it dropped to within 525 feet of the ground nine miles out from the airport. And now, CNN reports a Southwest flight heading from Columbus, Ohio to Tampa, Florida on July 14 dropped within 150 feet of the ocean’s surface five miles out from landing. All three incidents have now caught the attention of the Feds who have opened a probe into the airline to figure out what exactly is happening as the agency detailed to Tampa Bay’s Fox 13:

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.

Pilot Robert Katz told the Tampa Bay Times the Florida flight plunging so close to the ocean like that could have only happened due to a combination of pilot fatigue and poor weather conditions, which were present during the flight’s final descent:

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.

These latest incidents are part of a larger problem for Southwest and the aviation industry as a whole. From Boeing’s plane safety mishaps to Southwest’s massive flight meltdown during the 2023 holiday season, near misses on runways, and airlines mishandling millions of passenger bags, it does not seem like now is a good time to fly anywhere.