A Southwest Airlines flight from Honolulu to Lihue, Hawaii, narrowly avoided disaster in April after a dramatic descent due to bad weather, according to The New York Post. The Boeing 737 Max 8, identified as Southwest Flight 2786, was forced to abandon its landing approach because of low visibility and plunged several hundred feet within seconds.

According to the news report, the rapid descent, significantly faster than the usual rate, put the plane just 400 feet from the ocean surface. Thankfully, the crew reacted swiftly and regained control, climbing the aircraft at a steep rate to avoid a potential crash.

According to a report obtained byBloomberg, the incident is being investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The report indicates that a “newer” first officer was in control of the aircraft during the approach due to the short flight time. When the landing became impossible due to weather, the pilot took over, but the first officer inadvertently pushed the controls forward during a critical moment, causing the descent.

The pilot was “pitching up and pitching down with the power and close to out of control-very close,” Kit Darby, a former commercial airline pilot and flight instructor, told the outlet. “It would feel like a roller coaster ride.”

The pilot quickly rectified the situation by increasing thrust, allowing the plane to climb safely.

Southwest Airlines released a statement emphasising their commitment to safety and mentioned reviewing internal data to ensure crew members receive proper training and communication protocols are followed.

A woman travelling from Colorado to California on a Southwest Airlines flight was allegedly kicked off by cabin crew after she reached down and stroked her puppy. The unverified video of the incident is going on social media platforms. 

The video posted by Sara Price on TikTok, now going viral on X, shows a woman sporting a sweatshirt, removing her bags from the plane’s overhead compartment and heading for the exit. The text on the video says, “Southwest Airlines kicks lady off flight for petting her puppy.” According to the Independent, the video has been watched more than 1.4 million times as of publish time. 

The caption read, “The puppy was whining a little and the flight attendant boarding everyone walked up to her and said, if your dogs don’t be quiet, you may not be able to fly,” Ms Price wrote in the caption. 

This was on our flight with @SouthwestAir yesterday. She was literally petty her new puppy through the mesh of the completely zipped carrier, and they booted her off. pic.twitter.com/HeuMR4jzJ4

— Sara (@_Sara_Price_) October 21, 2023

Upon boarding, the dog owner, who happened to be seated in the same row as Ms Price, placed the carrier on her lap and proceeded to caress her dog. According to Ms Price’s account, a flight attendant then came over to the dog owner and requested that she zip up the carrier and store it beneath the seat.

According to Southwest’s pet policy, “Pets must be secured in the pet carrier at all times while in the gate area, during boarding/deplaning, and for the entire flight. If you don’t follow this requirement, your pet may be denied transportation.”

In a summary provided by Ms Price and shared in the second video, it was observed that the woman believed it was acceptable for her to continue petting the dog until all passengers had finished boarding.

Ms Price went on to explain that the flight attendants opted to return to the gate and remove the dog owner from the plane.

In Ms Price’s video, you can hear the dog owner declining assistance from a flight attendant. She says, “I’m not going to allow you to handle any of my belongings. You are impolite. You are unkind. And I will never choose Southwest for my flights again.”

In the background of the video, other individuals can be heard consoling her. One man is heard saying, “You didn’t even have the dog out – you were just petting it.” In one of her subsequent TikTok videos, Ms Price mentioned that the man was her husband.

According to the New York Post, Southwest Airlines defended its decision to remove the passenger. 

“We’re aware of the videos and our initial reports indicate that the customer would not comply with keeping her dog’s kennel closed, which is our policy,” an airline representative told the Post. “Our Employees are trained to ensure customers are following protocol, and in this situation and after the customer repeatedly refused to comply with our crew’s instructions, the decision was made to deplane the disruptive passenger.”