TAMPA, Fla. — The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating after a Southwest Airlines flight came within 150 feet of the water on its approach in Tampa.
▶ WATCH CHANNEL 9 EYEWITNESS NEWS
Officials said the incident happened last week.
An air traffic controller quickly alerted the pilot after the flight dipped to a dangerously low altitude.
Read: CrowdStrike outage: U.S. Department of Transportation opens investigation into Delta delays
The plane then surged back into the sky and diverted to Fort Lauderdale.
The airline released a statement that said, in part, “Southwest is following its robust safety management system and is in contact with the Federal Aviation Administration to understand and address any irregularities. Nothing is more important to Southwest than the safety of our customers and employees.”
Read: Woman missed husband’s funeral because of fake plane ticket scam
Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
©2024 Cox Media Group
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/OEBS5QISY5CE5MQ7IRGO7IFTTA.PNG)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/T457HF6N43GWSE4T7VSBIHMGMU.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/WC4QASUHRJDAJIH256MFDLJWJA.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/YF56KXCRRFCQTKO6PJ3MN7HVZ4.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/EEUP6QI2DQZTET4GYFSU6YJCNY.jpg)