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FAA investigating Southwest flight in Hawaii that rapidly descended to 400 feet above ocean

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FAA investigating Southwest flight in Hawaii that rapidly descended to 400 feet above ocean


The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating an April 11 incident when a Southwest Airlines flight abandoned a landing due to weather and then dropped to just 400 feet above the Pacific Ocean.

During the aborted landing and go-around, the first officer flying the Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft “inadvertently pushed forward on the control column” and pitched the nose down towards the Earth, according to a Southwest memo sent to pilots about the incident. Bloomberg initially disclosed the leaked memo, and it has since spread across social media.

The plane plunged to almost 400 feet above the ocean before the pilots recovered in an “aggressive climb.”

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“I would think there’s a good chance that even in turbulence, passengers would have felt that in their seats,” said former commercial airline pilot and FlightAware spokesperson Kathleen Bangs. “They would have felt the airplane going up and then the drop and then going up again. Hard to know because they know they’re low to the ground.”

Thunderstorms developed south of destination

HERE’S WHAT CAUSES TURBULENCE AND WHY YOU SHOULDN’T BE AFRAID OF IT

Flight 2786 took off from Honolulu’s Daniel K. Inouye International Airport heading for the Lihue Airport on the island of Kauai at 6:45 p.m. local time, according to FlightAware data. There were thunderstorms developing just south of Lihue when the jet took off and the weather deteriorated through the flight. 

The memo also noted that the pilots noticed on radar that several other flights were going around or “performing missed approaches.” 

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Inexperienced first officer flying

The seasoned captain instructed his newer first officer to fly the short trip to gain experience. The first officer had never flown into Lihue before and only observed the captain fly out of Lihue the day before, according to the leaked memo.

The tower advised the first officer that weather conditions were safe for landing, but the pilot ordered a “go-around” because they could not visually see the runway at the minimum altitude, per Southwest and Federal regulations.

According to the memo, the go-around procedure was intensive. The first officer noticed the plane sped up, which it would do on a descent at the same power. They pulled back the throttle. At that point, the plane started diving at around 4,400 feet per minute. 

That is more than five times faster than a decent for landing, according to Bangs.

SOUTHWEST FLIGHT MAKES EMERGENCY LANDING IN FLORIDA DUE TO TURBULENCE

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“Airlines generally do instrument approaches, and you’re following these navigational aids like the glide slope,” Bangs said. “And this glide slope helps you even on a perfectly clear day. And you’re usually coming in around 7 or 800 feet per minute on the descent.” 

According to the memo, the first officer told Southwest that they did not hear audible warnings about the plane’s proximity to the ground due to the activity in the cockpit.

“The captain assessed that the aircraft was in an undesirable state based on the GPWS (ground proximity warning system) warning and verbalized, ‘Climb’ and ‘Turn Left’ immediately prompting the first officer to increase thrust,” said the memo.

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The jet then climbed “aggressively” at over 8,500 feet per minute. Eventually, the crew returned to Honolulu.

Bangs said climbs could be anywhere from 3,000 or 4,000 feet to 8,000 feet a minute. Pilots use the sleeper climb if there are noise ordinances or mountains around the airport, like in Aspen, Colorado. Rate of climb is very dependent on temperature and humidity.

No one was injured. 

Bangs said at the point of the drop, all passengers should have been wearing seat belts.

Southwest’s statement

Bangs said it appears the crew voluntarily reported the incident through the FAA’s Aviation Safety Action Program.

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HOW TO WATCH FOX WEATHER

“I would say the captain self reported it,” Bangs said. “There is a program with the FAA that’s been around for decades now where if pilots encounter something that they feel is a threat to safety, they can self-report it, and then that should minimize any risk of them getting cited for that. So it’s to encourage people not to hide safety events, but to actually come forth with them so that not only the FAA can learn, but that other pilots at that carrier and other carriers can also learn from.”

In a statement to FOX Weather, Southwest said there’s nothing more important to them than safety.

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“Through our robust Safety Management System, the event was addressed appropriately as we always strive for continuous improvement,” a Southwest spokesperson said in the statement.



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Hawaii County Surf Forecast for March 04, 2026 | Big Island Now

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Hawaii County Surf Forecast for March 04, 2026 | Big Island Now


Forecast for Big Island Windward and Southeast


Shores Tonight Wednesday
Surf Surf
PM AM AM PM
North Facing 2-4 2-4 2-4 2-4
East Facing 3-5 4-6 4-6 5-7
South Facing 1-3 1-3 1-3 1-3
TONIGHT
Weather Mostly cloudy. Numerous showers.
Low Temperature In the upper 60s.
Winds East winds 5 to 10 mph.
Tides
Hilo Bay High 1.9 feet 03:26 PM HST.
Low -0.1 feet 09:20 PM HST.
High 2.4 feet 03:40 AM HST.
WEDNESDAY
Weather Partly sunny. Numerous showers.
High Temperature In the upper 70s.
Winds East winds 10 to 15 mph.
Tides
Hilo Bay Low -0.1 feet 10:00 AM HST.
High 2.0 feet 04:04 PM HST.
Sunrise 6:37 AM HST.
Sunset 6:27 PM HST.

Forecast for Big Island Leeward


Shores Tonight Wednesday
Surf Surf
PM AM AM PM
West Facing 2-4 2-4 2-4 1-3
South Facing 1-3 1-3 1-3 1-3
TONIGHT
Weather Mostly sunny until 6 PM, then mostly
cloudy. Hazy.
Low Temperature In the upper 60s.
Winds West winds around 5 mph early in the
afternoon, becoming light and variable.
Tides
Kona High 1.5 feet 04:04 PM HST.
Low -0.1 feet 09:57 PM HST.
High 1.9 feet 04:18 AM HST.
Kawaihae High 1.4 feet 04:36 PM HST.
Low -0.1 feet 10:20 PM HST.
High 1.9 feet 04:38 AM HST.
WEDNESDAY
Weather Partly sunny. Hazy.
High Temperature In the mid 80s.
Winds Light and variable winds, becoming west
around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Tides
Kona Low -0.1 feet 10:37 AM HST.
High 1.6 feet 04:42 PM HST.
Kawaihae Low -0.2 feet 11:01 AM HST.
High 1.6 feet 05:13 PM HST.
Sunrise 6:41 AM HST.
Sunset 6:31 PM HST.

The current moderate northwest swell will continue a gradual decline through Thursday. A small west-northwest swell will arrive on Friday and hold through the weekend, followed by a small north-northwest swell early next week. Choppy east shore surf will build to near seasonal average by Wednesday as trade winds strengthen over and east of the islands. Little change is expected along east facing shores through the weekend, followed by a possible decline early next week if winds veer southerly. Surf along south facing shores will remain small to tiny through the weekend, and some islands may an increase in choppy surf if southerly winds develop early next week.

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NORTH EAST

am        pm  

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Surf: Minimal (ankle high or less) surf.

Conditions: Semi choppy with ESE winds 5-10mph in the morning increasing to 10-15mph in the afternoon.

NORTH WEST

am        pm  

Surf: Minimal (ankle high or less) surf.

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Conditions: Clean in the early morning with ESE winds less than 5mph. Bumpy/semi bumpy conditions move in during the morning hours with the winds shifting W 5-10mph.

WEST

am        pm  

Surf: Minimal (ankle high or less) surf.

Conditions: Semi glassy in the morning with N winds less than 5mph. Bumpy/semi bumpy conditions for the afternoon with the winds shifting WNW 5-10mph.

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SOUTH EAST

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am        pm  

Surf: Minimal (ankle high or less) surf.

Conditions: Light sideshore texture in the morning with NE winds 10-15mph. This becomes Sideshore texture/chop for the afternoon.

Data Courtesy of NOAA.gov and SwellInfo.com



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Hawaii delegation continues to blast U.S. attack on Iran | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

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Hawaii delegation continues to blast U.S. attack on Iran | Honolulu Star-Advertiser




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Blood moon to dazzle Hawaii skies tonight

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Blood moon to dazzle Hawaii skies tonight

























Blood moon to dazzle Hawaii skies tonight | Local | kitv.com

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