Boeing plane almost crashed into the sea, US officials investigate
Jun 15, 2024
Washington [US], June 15: CBS News reported on June 14 that the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is investigating the incident where a Southwest Airlines passenger flight nearly crashed into the sea off the coast of the Hawaiian Islands in April.
According to air traffic control recordings, weather conditions on Kauai island on April 11 caused Southwest Airlines flight 2786 to be unable to land at Lihue airport and rush toward the coast.
The airline's Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft dropped more than 1,200 meters per minute before the pilot steered the plane upward to avoid a tragedy. The plane was said to be just 120 meters above the water. The plane then landed safely in the Hawaiian city of Honolulu . No one was injured on the flight.
In a statement on June 14, Southwest Airlines said: "Nothing is more important to Southwest than safety. Through the Safety Management System, the incident was handled appropriately and we always strive to continuous improvement".
Previously, US federal officials said on June 14 that they were investigating another Southwest Airlines incident also involving a Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft. The incident occurred when the plane was on a route from Phoenix to Phoenix. Oakland (USA) on May 25 experienced a rare somersault phenomenon, believed to be due to a problem from a broken backup power source.
The FAA said the plane encountered a " Dutch roll ". This is the term for the combination of shaking, the tail sliding sideways and the aircraft swaying side to side. This is a phenomenon that rarely occurs during flights. The Southwest Airlines plane encountered the above incident at an altitude of more than 10,000 m.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
