Southwest Airlines is now the subject of a formal safety audit being conducted by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) following a series of recent mishaps and near misses that have put the carrier under the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.
The Dallas-based airline isn’t, of course, the only US carrier currently the subject of an FAA safety audit, with United Airlines currently unable to start new routes to previously unserved cities because of a continuing probe into safety practices at the airline.
Attention, however, has now shifted to Southwest after an alarming number of recent mishaps. In the last few months alone, these include a Southwest 737 descending to just 150 feet of Tampa Bay, as well as a plane taking off from a closed runway and an investigation into a ‘Dutch Roll’ incident that damaged an aircraft.
The news of the safety audit came to light after sources approached the Wall Street Journal, but Southwest Airlines has now reportedly acknowledged that the FAA is probing the carrier, saying that it is working with the agency to review the list of recent incidents.
Southwest Airlines has formed an investigation team that includes safety experts and various leaders, as well as representatives from the airline’s unions and the FAA, as part of the probe.
In a statement, the airline explained: “This group is tasked with performing an in-depth, data-driven analysis to identify any opportunities for improvement. Nothing is more important to Southwest than the safety of our customers and employees”.
As well as the recent Tampa Bay incident, another Southwest 737 buzzed over an Oklahoma suburb after descending to just 3,000 feet while still nine miles away from Oklahoma City Airport.
In another incident in April, the right-hand engine cowling of a Southwest 737-800 aircraft was ripped off during departure from Denver, prompting an emergency return.
The National Transportation Safety Board pinned the blame on the incident for overnight maintenance in which the engineers failed to properly secure the engine cowling back into place after working on the engine.
Only a few days later, a Southwest Airlines plane came within 400 feet of the Pacific Ocean after the pilots decided to perform a go around as they were coming into land at Lihue. That incident may have been caused by the First Officer accidentally pushing the control column forward causing the aircraft to quickly drop altitude.
United Airlines was put under FAA investigation following a string of incidents, which included wheels and panels falling off planes, as well as a 737MAX which suffered a nose wheel collapse when the plane skidded off the runway at Houston George Bush Airport in March.
Experts suspected it was only a matter of time before Southwest was subject to a similar probe after its own spate of mishaps.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Southwest told us the carrier was “working closely with the Federal Aviation Administration in the review of recent events.”
“Southwest has an exceptional Safety Program that includes an FAA-Accepted Safety Management System (SMS) to manage and mitigate operational risks and execute safe operating programs and practices.”
