FlightAware mapped out the flight path of Southwest Flight 2786 on April 11. We follow the plane as it takes off from Honolulu and approaches Kauai to land at Lihue. Storms forced the pilots to abandon the landing. According to an internal memo leaked to Bloomberg, the first officer “inadvertently” pushed the control column forward causing the plane to drop down to 400 feet. The graph at the bottom shows speed in yellow and altitude in green. The area where the green line is closest to zero feet in the middle of the chart is the incident and recovery.
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
Severe storms brought flash flooding to parts of Hawaii overnight into Friday, April 12, causing landslides and leaving people stranded. (Video courtesy: Fern Anuenue Holland via Storyful)
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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File: Southwest Airlines Co. Boeing 737 passenger jets parked on the tarmac at Midway International Airport (MDW) in Chicago, Illinois.
(Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
“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
FILE – A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 plane files in front of the moon.
(Nick Ut / Getty Images)
“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.
Each week before Cal plays a football game, we ask someone who covers Cal’s next opponent five questions about that opponent.
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To answer questions about Cal’s Hawaii Bowl opponent Hawaii this week we enlisted the services of Stephen Tsai, who covers Hawaii football for the Honolulu Star-Advertiser and has been named Hawaii sports writer of the year seven times.
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We were particularly intrigued by his answer to Question No. 5, where Tsai noted that there would portably be no Hawaii Bowl without Rolovich, a former Hawaii head coach and Cal’s interim head coach for the Hawaii Bowl.
—1. Every team has a home-field advantage, but it seems Hawaii has been even better than most teams at home. Is that true, and if so, why?
There are several obstacles for visiting teams. There’s the time difference. Hawaii games usually kick off at 6 p.m., which is midnight on the East Coast during daylight savings time, 11 p.m. for standard time. Because the Ching Complex is a temporary home venue, there are open areas in the corners, allowing for cross winds that affect field-goal attempts. The so-called “Manoa Mist” also impacts the ball-handling positions.
The visiting team is assigned a makeshift locker room combining the neighboring baseball stadium’s locker room and part of the concourse. Before the walls were built, the concourse area was cordoned off with curtains. Nothing like being near concession stands while preparing for a football game. Because of the time difference, a team can depart the West Coast in the morning and practice in Hawaii that afternoon. In contrast, teams lose preparation time for the next game when traveling back to the mainland.
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—2. How much will the absence of all-conference wide receiver Jackson Harris affect Hawaii’s offense?
Aside from the deep threat — he had four TDs of 70-plus yards — Harris was sure-handed (three drops in 74 targets), clutch on scramble plays (37 of his 49 receptions resulted in first downs), and used his height and reach to attack 50-50 balls. As the left wideout, Harris benefited from left-handed QB Micah Alejado’s rollouts and left slotback Pofele Ashlock’s decoy routes.
Hawaii has experienced wideouts in Karsyn Pupunu and Brandon White, but the Warriors will have to be creative to make up for Harris’ deep-pass threat.
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—3. Assess the abilities of Hawaii quarterback Micah Alejado.
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Alejado is accurate and has a coach’s knowledge of the Warriors’ read-and-attack, four-wide offense. He’s quick to decipher schemes with pre-snap reads. At 5-10, Alejado is like the detective behind a one-way mirror. He can find receivers yet it is a challenge for defenders to see him behind a taller offensive line.
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—4. Who are the top two or three players on Hawaii’s offense and defense?
Alejado, running back Landon Sims and left guard and Zhen Sotelo are the impact players on offense. Jalen Smith, who can play both linebacker spots, and De’Jon Benton, who lines up as 3-tech tackle or end, provide defensive versatility. An opposing coach mused that UH could run a 1-10 formation with Benton.
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—5. Do Hawaii fans still remember Nick Rolovich, who is Cal’s interim head coach for the Hawaii Bowl?
Without Rolo, there probably would not be a Hawaii Bowl. He threw eight touchdown passes to help the Warriors stomp then-unbeaten BYU in the 2001 regular-season finale. But with no postseason bowl invitation for the 9-3 Warriors, the leaders of UH, WAC and ESPN created the Hawaii Bowl the next year.
Rolo was innovative as a UH offensive coordinator and play-calling head coach. He ran his variation of June Jones’ run-and-shoot offense. He also provided entertainment, bringing an Elvis impersonator to media day; awarding a scholarship at a wrestling match and another in a koala cage at an Australian zoo; and designing a rivalry trophy for the matchup against UNLV.
On the road, he once conducted a quarterbacks’ meeting in the hotel jacuzzi. He also coined the popular phrase: Live aloha, play Warrior.
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Honolulu police opened a murder investigation today after finding the body of a 60-year-old woman while doing a welfare check at a Hawaii Kai home.
Police said officers arrested the victim’s 29-year-old son and a 27-year-old woman who were inside the residence and identified as suspects.
After receiving a 10:25 a.m. welfare check call, HPD officers responded to a home on the 6200 block of Upolo Place and found a woman dead on the floor inside the residence.
“Preliminary investigation revealed the woman sustained fatal injuries,” HPD said.
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The two suspects were arrested on suspicion of second-degree murder and the investigation is ongoing, according to police.
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – A group of nonprofits are asking the public to help support efforts to return Maunawili Valley to community care.
Dean Wilhelm, co-executive director of Ho’okuaaina, Reyna Ramolete Hayashi, aloha aina project manager at Trust for Public Land, and Kaleo Wong, executive director of Kauluakalana, joined HNN’s Sunrise to talk about more than a decade of work by Hui Maunawili–Kawainui, a coalition of nonprofits and generational ohana to purchase and protect more than 1,000 acres on windward Oahu to benefit the community.
“Our Hoihoi Maunawili fundraising campaign is four nonprofits working together to raise $500,000 for the future stewardship of the land. The nonprofit partners are Kauluakalana, Ho’okua’aina, Hawaii Land Trust, and Trust for Public Land,” Hayashi said.
Nonprofit leaders say Hoihoi Maunawili is working with the current landowner, the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, to transfer stewardship of the land.
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“These lands include the most fertile growing soil in all Hawaii, important cultural sites, and freshwater streams and springs that will be forever protected. Capital funds have been secured to purchase the land,” Hayashi said.
“This land has sustained generations. By returning it to the community and restoring it for shared use and cultural renewal, we will safeguard resources for future generations and increase our community’s resilience,” Wilhelm said.
“Until the 1960s, this land was very productive. It was the ‘Breadbasket of Oahu.’ Alii specifically would ask for kalo grown on these lands. This effort seeks to return it to its former abundance, ultimately improving local food security and water security through community-led agriculture that strengthens Hawaii food systems and creates green jobs for a sustainable local economy.”
“Buying and protecting the land is only the beginning,” Wong said. “In this season of giving, we are asking the community to join us in this movement to restore water, food, culture and community in Maunawili.”
To donate and learn more, visit hoihoimaunawili.org. The public can also support by volunteering or joining a talk story.
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