(RightWing.org) – Investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating a flight that did a low-level pass over its destination, then diverted to another airport. The Southwest Airlines flight to Tampa, Florida, ended up landing at Fort Lauderdale. Now investigators want to know what went wrong.
On July 14, Southwest Flight 425 took off from Columbus, Ohio, bound for Tampa. However, three miles out from its destination it descended to as low as 175 feet. Air traffic control warned the crew they were dangerously low; as the Boeing 737 MAX 8 crossed the airport at low level, they diverted it to Fort Lauderdale, around 200 miles away. The plane landed safely at its new destination, then returned to Tampa after a short time on the ground and landed safely there too.
In a statement, Southwest said it was “following its robust Safety Management System” and was talking to the FAA about the incident. However, this isn’t the first Southwest flight that’s caused concerns recently. On June 19, a Southwest 737-800 on approach to Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City descended to around 500 feet over a residential area. When controllers sent a low altitude warning the flight climbed, circled then made a safe landing. Worried residents said on social media they’d thought it was going to land on their houses; Southwest issued exactly the same statement as it did in July.
In April, yet another Southwest 737 heading for Lihue Airport on Kauai, Hawaii, dropped to just 400 feet above the ocean on approach. Another of the airline’s 737 MAX planes went into an unplanned “Dutch roll” maneuver between Phoenix and Oakland and suffered “substantial” damage.
It’s notable that all the Southwest incidents involved 737s and all but one were 737 MAX models. The 737 MAX has a troubled history, and Southwest’s latest string of near-accidents isn’t going to improve its reputation.
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