FAA Investigating Southwest Airlines

Image: Southwest Airlines plane at the gate. (photo via Eric Bowman)
Image: Southwest Airlines plane at the gate. (photo via Eric Bowman)
Rich Thomaselli
by Rich Thomaselli
Last updated: 8:15 AM ET, Tue May 16, 2023

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is investigating Southwest Airlines.

The agency wants to know why the flight, which was scheduled from Honolulu to San Francisco, returned to its point of origin in Hawaii after declaring and asking for an emergency landing.

The incident happened on Sunday, May 14.

Southwest said the issue was with one of the window panes in the cockpit. The window did not shatter, but the airline plated it cautiously and returned to Honolulu. The airline called it a maintenance issue.

The front window of the plane remained intact and is made up of multiple layers of tempered glass.

The pilot told officials, however, that the emergency landing was requested for a separate issue. Apparently, a passenger was having a cardiac issue, and it was easier and closer to return to Honolulu than to try and continue on to San Francisco. Nonetheless, the FAA is investigating why an emergency landing was requested.

The flight landed safely.

There were no injuries, and the passengers were put on a new plane that continued on to San Francisco.


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Rich Thomaselli

Rich Thomaselli

Associate Writer

Editor Associate Writer true 9281 14744 Rich Thomaselli has written for TravelPulse since 2014 and has been a professional journalist for nearly 40 years. His work has appeared in USA Today, the New York Times and New York Yankees publications. He is an 11-time writ

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