In April, a Southwest Airlines flight had a terrifying incident near Hawaii. The plane almost crashed into the ocean after a pilot accidentally sent the aircraft into a dive. Bloomberg reported on the incident, which was detailed in an internal memo sent to pilots last week. Despite adverse weather conditions, the captain chose to let a less-experienced first officer control the Boeing 737 Max 8 plane during the flight.
When the plane had to abort its landing at Lihue Airport due to bad weather, the first officer pushed the steering yoke forward unintentionally without reducing speed. This caused the plane to plummet rapidly from an altitude of 1,000 feet to only 400 feet above the ocean within seconds. Alarms in the cockpit alerted the captain, who instructed the first officer to accelerate, leading to an abrupt climb at a rate of 8,500 feet per minute.
After the intense situation, the flight managed to return safely to Honolulu without any injuries reported. Southwest Airlines emphasized that safety is their top priority and that they promptly addressed the incident through their Safety Management System.
This incident is reminiscent of another flight near Hawaii in 2022 that similarly experienced a sudden descent due to a miscommunication between pilots. United Airlines Flight 1722 had to make a quick recovery after a first officer misunderstood instructions about setting the flaps of the aircraft.
The accidental dive of Southwest Airlines Flight was caused by human error and not by technical malfunction of aircraft or any other reason. It is concerning incident which will be investigated further by Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
