The Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA) will investigate a July 14 incident in which a
Southwest Airlines plane flew as low as 175 feet over Tampa en route to the
airport to make a landing.
The flight was coming from Columbus, Ohio, and was
diverted across the state to Fort Lauderdale when air traffic controllers realized
it was flying too low to land in Tampa.
That’s a little
too close for comfort.
The plane was a
737 Max-9 manufactured by Boeing.
"Nothing is
more important to Southwest than the safety of our customers and
employees," the airline said.
This is the latest in a series of similar incidents involving Southwest. Earlier this year, a Southwest Airlines flight flew dangerously close to the ocean, within 400 feet, although that was deemed to be pilot error. The FAA is still investigating a mishap from June when a Southwest Airlines flight was too low to land in Oklahoma City.
The agency is also investigating a June problem involving a Southwest Airlines flight that took off from a closed runway in Maine.
It is not yet
known what caused this particular flight to fly too low in approaching Tampa.
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