In April of this year, a Southwest Airlines plane crashed 400 feet off the coast of Hawaii due to weather-related reasons, and the pilot gave up the landing attempt. According to American media reports, US regulators are investigating the previously unreported incident.

According to a memo sent to Southwest Airlines pilots last week that was seen by Bloomberg, the Boeing 737 Max 8 plane experienced a temporary high-speed descent of over 4,000 feet per minute before the crew stopped it to avoid disaster. No one was injured on the plane, and it safely returned to its departure airport in Honolulu.

(Source: Bloomberg)

The previously unreported incident is another example of a series of safety incidents that have attracted public attention since the outbreak of the epidemic due to an increase in the number of flights by airlines. At the same time, Southwest Airlines management is facing increasing pressure from Elliott Investment Management and other investors, who are disappointed with the company's lagging financial performance and closed corporate culture.

"Nothing is more important than safety for Southwest Airlines" the airline said in an email statement about the Hawaii flight, "we handled this incident appropriately through our strong safety management system and remain committed to continuous improvement. "

According to ADS-B Exchange, a flight tracking website, Southwest Airlines Flight 2786 dropped from about 1,000 feet to 400 feet above sea level in just a few seconds. The plane was near Kona International Airport on the island of Hawaii and then began to climb rapidly.

Former commercial airline pilot and flight instructor Kit Darby said in an interview after reviewing flight details that the pilots were "bouncing up and down under the influence of power, and almost out of control, very close to being out of control".

"It felt like a roller coaster."

According to Southwest Airlines' investigation, the accident was caused by adverse weather conditions that prevented the pilot from seeing the runway at the designated altitude, resulting in the cancellation of the landing attempt.

The memo showed that despite the weather forecast, the captain still chose to let the "relatively new" co-pilot fly the short flight to Kona.

The inexperienced co-pilot "inadvertently" pushed the control stick forward while following the thrust lever movement caused by the aircraft's automatic throttle, causing the pilot to slow down and the plane to descend. Soon after, the warning system issued an alert, indicating that the plane was too close to the ground, and the captain ordered the co-pilot to increase the thrust.

The memo stated that the plane then climbed at a rate of 8,500 feet per minute.

According to Kit Darby, who was a flight instructor, preparing to land on a flight typically slides at a rate of 1,500 to 2,000 feet per minute in the early stages of approach and slows down to 800 feet about five miles from the airport.

A spokesperson said the National Transportation Safety Board was unaware of the Southwest Airlines incident. The Southwest Airlines Pilots' Association declined to comment.

Southwest Airlines declined to provide a flight number or specific incident date and said that under a safety plan overseen by the Federal Aviation Administration, pilots and other employees can anonymously report issues.

As a result of the review of recent incidents, the airline concluded that appropriate pilot monitoring and better communication between the flight crew were critical. In addition to other measures, the company promises to review industry and internal data related to its procedures and training agreements. Southwest Airlines' incident evokes memories of a December 2022 incident in which a plane operated by United Airlines Holdings, Inc. crashed shortly after takeoff from another Hawaiian airport, about 750 feet above the sea.

Both the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board investigated the incident, finding that communication problems between the pilots on board caused the accident.

As a result of the incident, the pilots involved in the flight received additional training.

At the end of regular trading in New York on Friday, Southwest Airlines' stock price was almost unchanged.