Summary

  • Southwest Airlines passengers speak out about flight 425 after it descended prematurely over Tampa Bay on July 14th.
  • A sudden jolt was felt as the aircraft regained altitude, but there was no announcement from the pilots.
  • The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has increased its oversight of the carrier.

Southwest Airlines passengers are speaking out after a Boeing 737 MAX 8 descended prematurely during its final approach to Tampa International Airport (TPA) earlier this month. One of the travelers, who reportedly comes from a family of pilots, began to record video from their window seat after noticing how close the aircraft was above the water.

The flight subsequently gained altitude, aborted the landing, and diverted to Fort Lauderdale due to low fuel. The missed approach resulted from “gusty winds,” according to one of the pilots.

“…All of a sudden”

Simple Flying reported the terrifying ordeal last week. WN425 was enroute to TPA from Columbus, Ohio on July 14th, but dealt with inclement weather throughout its descent. At around 19:00, the aircraft had initiated its final approach. Amy Giannotti, who was a passenger onboard, told the Tampa Bay Times that the incident first felt like a normal approach.

“You would have never known that anything was wrong. We didn’t drop from the sky. It was a slow descent, like normal.”

Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 landing at ALB shutterstock_2359129549

Photo: dorengo5 | Shutterstock

However, moments later, Giannotti described that passengers felt a sudden jolt upward without any announcement from the pilots.

“We got way down low, and then all of a sudden, just pulled up, and they didn’t say anything at first. Everybody was sort of looking at each other.”

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During that time, the 737 MAX 8 reached as low as 150 feet above Tampa Bay despite being four miles away from TPA. At that distance, the plane still should have been more than 1,600 feet above the water, according to FOX 13 Tampa Bay. Although the incredibly low altitude may not have been noticed by most passengers onboard, 52-year-old Nancy Allen, another person onboard, knew that the descent was abnormal. She had been watching the progression of the flight since it had encountered unpleasant weather and reportedly saw large bolts of lightning from her window.

As the aircraft came dangerously close to the water, Allen panicked as she saw the lights of the highway below, surrounded by water.

“I think the thing that I first saw that really concerned me was how close to the water we were. I didn’t know at the time that we were flying necessarily east, but I knew that Tampa Bay was way too close to us, and that was my big red flag,” she explained to FOX 13 Tampa Bay.

Recording video

At that point, Allen decided to pull out her phone to document the scary situation unfolding. However, a crippling thought also raced through her mind, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

“If my husband finds my cell phone, he’ll know how I died.”

At 150 feet, the aircraft was more than 30 feet lower than the top of the Westin Tampa Bay. The 16-story hotel reportedly rises to 186 feet and is situated directly along the flight path, about three miles away. Other buildings near TPA stand between 240 and 253 feet.

“He was way below where he should have been,” veteran pilot Kent Davis told the Tampa Bay Times. They could have hit a tower.”

“There were some gusty winds…”

Davis also called the ordeal “extremely dangerous,” while Robert Katz, a certified flight instructor, referred to it as “near fatal.” While the pilots did not immediately inform passengers of the incident, Allen says they sounded calm when they finally made an announcement.

“When the pilot came on he said something along the lines in a very calm manner of ‘there were some gusty winds that are preventing us from landing,’” she recounted.

N8801Q Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 (2)

Photo: Vincenzo Pace I Simple Flying

Southwest said it was in contact with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) about the dangerous episode. It was the third time this year that one of its aircraft had descended too close to terrain or water while approaching an airport. The FAA has since boosted its oversight of the Dallas-based low-cost carrier – similar to its move toward United Airlines earlier this year after its own trend of alarming incidents.

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