A Southwest Airlines flight dropped to just 525 feet when it was still about nine miles from the runway where it was supposed to land on June 19. The Boeing 737-800 was nearly done with its journey from Las Vegas to Oklahoma City’s Will Rogers World Airport when an automated warning was triggered just after midnight as the place passed over OKC’s suburbs.
That’s when air traffic control reached out to the pilots on board, according to the Oklahoman. ATC reportedly said, “Southwest 4069, low altitude alert. You good out there?” The warning clearly worked, because the Boeing quickly regained altitude and circles for a safe landing at another runway.
One of the pilots replied that they were “going around” with the controller telling them to maintain 3,000 feet, according to the Daily Beast. Air Traffic personnel at the airport confirmed the alert and missed approach to the newspaper, and they added there was no issue with the aircraft itself.
Here’s a statement Southwest Airlines gave to the Oklahoman about the events that transpired earlier this week:
“Southwest is following its robust Safety Management System and is in contact with the Federal Aviation Administration to understand and address any irregularities with the aircraft’s approach to the airport. Nothing is more important to Southwest than the safety of our customers and employees.”
On the Yukon Happenings Facebook group, one person said they were startled by the low-flying plane, writing, “It woke me up and I thought it was gonna hit my house,” according to the paper.
On June 20, the Federal Aviation Administration said it was investigating what caused the plane to dip so low in the early morning hours of Wednesday, The Daily Beast reports. We’ll be sure to bring you an update if and when we get more information.
This news also comes just days after another Southwest Pilot came within 400 feet of crashing into the Pacific Ocean. It’s also just a couple of months after a Southwest plane missed a runway collision in Washington, D.C. by less than 400 feet. I do not know what is going on in the flight deck of Southwest Boeing 737s, but it’s not ideal.