A Southwest Airlines flight from Honolulu to Lihue, Hawaii experienced a harrowing incident on April 11th when it descended to just 400 feet above the Pacific Ocean during a missed approach, federal officials said.
The Boeing 737-8 MAX aircraft (N8788L), operating as Southwest flight 2786, was attempting to land at Lihue Airport on Kauai amid poor weather conditions.
According to a memo from Southwest obtained by Bloomberg News, the first officer, who was flying the plane, inadvertently pushed the control column forward while adjusting thrust during the go-around procedure.
This caused the plane to rapidly descend at a rate exceeding 4,000 feet per minute before the crew managed to regain control and initiate a climb, reaching an altitude of 3,625 feet.
Flight tracking data from FlightRadar24 corroborates the aircraft’s dramatic descent and ascent profile.
“The aircraft’s maximum descent rate was -4,400 feet per minute, and the aircraft descended to nearly 400 feet above the ocean surface,” the Southwest memo stated, as reported by Bloomberg.
The crew received ground proximity warning alerts and had to increase thrust significantly, reaching a maximum climb rate of 8,500 feet per minute to recover from the situation safely.
After the incident, the pilots decided to abort the approach to Lihue and return to Honolulu, where the flight landed without further issues at 6:08 UTC.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed it is investigating the occurrence, which involved a newly delivered Boeing 737-8 MAX aircraft, powered by CFM LEAP-1B engines.
“Nothing is more important to Southwest than Safety,” the airline said in a statement to CNN. “Through our robust Safety Management System, the event was addressed appropriately as we always strive for continuous improvement.”
The incident bears similarities to a United Airlines flight in December 2022, which nearly crashed into the ocean off Hawaii due to a miscommunication between pilots over the plane’s flap settings.
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