TAMPA, Florida. – The FAA is investigating a frightening incident with a Southwest Airlines plane trying to land in Tampa International Airport this month.
On July 14, Flight 425 descended dangerously low, too far from the runway, and was suddenly diverted to Fort Lauderdale. The cause of the problem is not yet known.
In audio obtained between the pilot and air traffic control that day, the pilot is told “Southwest 425, low altitude alert, check your altitude…”
FILE – Southwest Airlines plane.
During descent, the plane came within 150 feet of the Courtney Campbell Causeway. Still six kilometers from the runway, experienced pilots say the plane should have been at least 300 meters higher, and even a strong gust of wind could have brought the plane down.
“How they got to 150 feet with the number of warnings available on an aircraft… it’s really – it’s hard to believe,” said Kent Davis, a retired pilot of more than 30 years. He believes it was pilot error.
“It all comes down to the pilots. On any approach, especially in bad weather, which they were experiencing at the time, it is imperative that they work together as a crew,” Davis said. “Either they started the descent at the wrong point and descended thinking they were at the proper descent speed for the runway, or something may have gone wrong.”
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This is the third incident Southwest has had recently with dangerously low descents. There was one in Oklahoma in June and another at LaGuardia in New York in April. Both flights also had to be diverted to other airports.
Southwest issued a statement regarding the Cover descent, saying in part:
“Southwest is following its robust safety management system and is in contact with the Federal Aviation Administration to understand and resolve any irregularities. Nothing is more important to Southwest than the safety of our customers and employees.”
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The FAA is investigating the incident.
“There is a problem. Now, is this problem a software problem or is it a crew training problem? Is it an experience problem? That’s all they’re going to look at and they need to do it quickly because if you have three [incidents] with the same airline…you need to resolve this quickly before you have a fourth one, which could be catastrophic,” Davis said.
As with most FAA investigations, there will be an initial finding within a few months and a more detailed report within a few years.
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