FAA probes latest Southwest Airlines flight that posed safety issues

The
Federal
Aviation
Administration
(FAA)
said
Saturday
it
is
investigating
a


Southwest
Airlines flight
after
it
flew
at
a
very
low
altitude
over
Tampa
Bay,
Florida,
the
most
recent
in
a
series
of
incidents
raising
safety
questions.

The
July
14
flight
by
a
Southwest


Boeing
737
MAX
that
had
departed
from
Columbus,
Ohio,
was
approximately
3
miles
(5
km)
from
the
Tampa
airport
when
it
dropped
to
as
low
as
about
175
feet
(53
meters),
according
to
Flightradar24
data.
An
air
traffic
controller
alerted
the
crew
of
Southwest
Flight
425
to
their
low
altitude
and
the
plane
was
diverted
to
Fort
Lauderdale.

Southwest
said
Saturday
is
in
contact
with
the
FAA
“to
understand
and
address
any
irregularities”
following
the
July
14
flight.
“Nothing
is
more
important
to
Southwest
than
the
safety
of
our
customers
and
employees,”
the
airline
added.

This
was
the
latest
in
a
string
of
Southwest
flights
that
have
raised
safety
concerns,
including
a
Southwest
737
flight
in
April
that
came
within
about
400
feet
(122
meters)
of
the
ocean
off
Hawaii
after
the
first
officer
inadvertently
pushed
forward
on
the
control
column
and
the
plane
hit
a
maximum
descent
rate
of
about
4,400
feet
per
minute.

The
FAA
is
also
investigating another
very
low
altitude
Southwest flight
about
9
miles
(14.5
km)
from
the
Oklahoma
City
airport.
The
June
19
incident
involving
Southwest
Airlines
Flight
4069
that
had
departed
from
Las
Vegas
dropped
to
about
500
feet.
After
an
alert
sounded,
an
air
traffic
controller
alerted
the
flight
crew.

The
U.S.
National
Transportation
Safety
Board
and
FAA
are
also
investigating
a
Southwest
737
MAX
flight
on
May
25
that experienced
a
“Dutch
roll”
at
34,000
feet while
en
route
from
Phoenix,
Arizona,
to
Oakland,
California.
Such
lateral
asymmetric
movements
are
named
after
a
Dutch
ice
skating
technique
and
can
pose
serious
safety
risks.

The
FAA
is
also
investigating
a
June
25
Southwest
flight
that
departed
from
a closed
runway
in
Portland,
Maine.