Southwest Flight’s Low Descent Because of ‘Human Error,’ Consultants Say

The flight was diverted to Fort Lauderdale after Air Visitors Management (ATC) advised the crew to “test your altitude,” the native TV station Fox 13 reported.

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the reason for the incident.

‘Pure human error’

Richard Curran, a professor of Aviation Administration at Metropolis College of London, and Mark Stephens, a retired Delta Air Traces pilot, advised Enterprise Insider that the incident might have been disastrous.

Curran mentioned the plane ought to have been at the least 1,000 away from the water and that its “dangerously low” place risked a crash.

“To be that low, the primary query is, would they’ve gone decrease? Did they suppose they had been at a special peak?” Curran mentioned.

“In the event that they thought they had been at 1,000 toes, they’d have needed to come down 1,000 toes,” he added.

Curran mentioned the incident was probably because of “pure human error.”

It is not identified if there was a technical problem with the plane which will have produced a defective altitude studying.

However even when this had been true, Curran mentioned, the crew ought to have observed earlier than being warned by air-traffic management.

Mark Stephens labored as a pilot for 30 years and was aj Airbus A350 captain earlier than retiring in 2021. Talking to BI, he mentioned that a number of instances in his profession he alerted different pilots that they had been flying too low.

He mentioned it is essential to keep in mind that there would have been two pilots concerned: one flying the aircraft and one other monitoring its progress.

“Two individuals aren’t doing their job,” he mentioned.

Stephens mentioned the second pilot might have observed there was a difficulty, however they might have avoided saying something.

“The opposite man might be pondering, ‘He’ll get on it,’ and does not say something — particularly if the captain is flying,” he mentioned. “I might inform my pilots, ‘Please communicate up.’ However some captains aren’t approachable.”

Unhealthy climate might have performed an element

In an interview with Fox 13, Nancy Allen, a passenger on the flight, mentioned she thought she might have died when she observed how shut the plane was to the water.

She mentioned the pilot did not clarify what had occurred however advised passengers “gusty winds” had prevented the aircraft from touchdown.

The Tampa Bay Occasions, citing a climate station at Tampa Worldwide Airport, reported that the aircraft was touring by stormy climate.

Stephens mentioned it is tough to say whether or not gusts of wind would have performed an enormous function.

He mentioned it is extra probably that wind shear — which the FAA describes as a swift change in wind velocity and route — might have pushed the aircraft down.

Robert Katz, a veteran business pilot, advised The Tampa Bay Occasions that wind shear might have “swatted the airplane like a fly into Tampa Bay.”

Besides, Katz mentioned it does not clarify why the pilots did not appear to be conscious that they had been flying at a harmful peak.

“These pilots are going to have a number of explaining to do,” Katz mentioned.

A harmful sample

It is not the primary time a Southwest flight has descended to a dangerously low altitude.

In June the FAA mentioned it was investigating a Southwest flight that dropped to 525 toes when it was 9 miles from touchdown in Oklahoma Metropolis.

The FAA can be trying into one other Southwest flight that descended to 400 toes above the ocean off the coast of Kauai, Hawaii, in April.

In an announcement to BI, a Southwest spokesperson mentioned it was “following its sturdy security administration system” and was involved with the FAA to “perceive and handle any irregularities.”

“Nothing is extra essential to Southwest than the security of our clients and staff,” they mentioned.