Southwest Airlines flight 2169: Experienced a wingtip strike during landing attempt in strong winds.
https://registry.faa.gov/N759GS
Date: 25-FEB-19
Time: 23:42:00Z
Aircraft Make: BOEING
Aircraft Model: 737
Event Type: INCIDENT
Highest Injury: UNKNOWN
Aircraft Missing: No
Damage: UNKNOWN
Activity: COMMERCIAL
Flight Phase: APPROACH (APR)
Operation: 121
Aircraft Operator: SOUTHWEST AIRLINES
Flight Number: 2169
City: WINDSOR LOCKS
State: CONNECTICUT
Federal officials are investigating why a Southwest Airlines plane made three chaotic landing attempts at Bradley International Airport in high winds Monday night that, according to one report, caused the tip of one wing to scrape the runway and left dozens of frightened passengers vomiting from the severe turbulence.
A spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration said Tuesday an investigation of the incident is underway. Southwest confirmed the aircraft, which was ultimately diverted to T. F. Green Airport in Warwick, R.I., had suffered damage on the right wing. The airline said it will conduct its own internal review of the flight, apologizing to passengers and offering ticket refunds and vouchers for a future flight.
Southwest flight 2169, which had flown out of Orlando International Airport, landed at Green at about 7:30 p.m., carrying 146 passengers and a crew of five.
Passenger Christine Orlovsky-Lascano of Trumbull, who was returning from a trip to Disney World with her mother and three young sons Tuesday, described the harrowing, chaotic scene inside the cabin.
“With each fail they would go back up, circle and then descend again to try and land,” Orlovsky-Lascano said. “So, with each descent that we experienced, there was horrible turbulence that was making a good portion of the people on the plane vomit.”
Monday’s powerful gusts of wind brought down trees and power lines across Connecticut, cutting electricity to thousands of homes and businesses.
According to federal aviation regulations, the pilot is the final authority in the operation of the aircraft. But the FAA may require a written report defending actions taken in the operation of a plane.
The harrowing flight on the Boeing 737 into Bradley comes as Southwest struggles with mounting flight cancellations tied to a maintenance backlog on its fleet. USA Today reported that Southwest canceled 131 Monday flights, or 3 percent of its scheduled flights, citing flight tracker FlightAware. More than 400 flights were delayed, USA Today reported.
Aviation Herald, an industry publication, reported that one of the landing attempts at Bradley resulted in a wing striking the runway.
In a statement, Southwest said there were no reported injuries on the flight.
“We are reaching out to our customers on the flight to offer our apologies, refund their ticket and extend a gesture of a goodwill flight voucher for a future trip on Southwest,” Brandy King, an airline spokeswoman, said in the statement.
The airline did not immediately respond to an inquiry about Southwest investigating the incident.
Once the plane had landed at Green, Orlovsky-Lascano said she rented a car to drive to Trumbull, arriving home at about 10:45 p.m. On Tuesday, she said she remained shaken.
“To be honest, I’m not ready to think about flying anytime soon,” Orlovsky-Lascano said. “Safe to say as we exited the plane, every other row had used barf bags.”
Original article can be found here ➤ https://www.courant.com
A wing on the Boeing 737-700 scraped the runway at Bradley, according to the Hartford Courant.
In a written statement, Southwest said that the plane — Flight 2169 operating Monday from Orlando International Airport — suffered some damage and has been taken out of service for repair.
The 737 had 146 customers and five crew members on board when it tried to land at Bradley during high winds on Monday evening. The flight was diverted to T.F. Green Airport in Warwick, Rhode Island.
Southwest said there were no reported injuries.
The airline said it has refunded the cost of passenger’s tickets and offered them vouchers for future travel.
Alisa Sisc, a spokeswoman for Bradley International Airport, said landings and take off are coordinated between the pilot and the FAA Air Traffic Control.
FAA communications manager Kathleen Bergen said the agency doesn’t comment on ongoing investigations.
The final report will be available through a federal Freedom of Information Act request.
Original article can be found here ➤ https://www.masslive.com
Officials with the Federal Aviation Administration and Southwest Airlines said they are investigating a flight that made repeated attempts to land at Bradley International Airport on Monday — at one point reportedly striking a wing against the ground — before diverting to Rhode Island.
In a statement, the FAA said Southwest Airlines Flight 2169, a Boeing 737 with 146 customers and five crew onboard, tried to land at Bradley three times amidst strong winds. The plane, which took off from Orlando International Airport in Florida, ultimately landed safely at T.F. Green State Airport in Warwick around 7:30 p.m.
No one was injured during the abortive landing, but some reports quoting passengers said people were nauseated and began vomiting in their seats due to severe turbulence as the plane rose and descended.
A spokesman for Southwest said a subsequent inspection indicated that the plane sustained some damage during the landings. The FAA is looking into claims that that the Boeing’s wing tip touched the runway during the first attempted touchdown.
The airline apologized for the incident and extended offers of ticket refunds and vouchers to the passengers. Southwest also said it will launch its own internal investigation of the flight.
Though federal officials have not formally determined what forced the plane’s pilot to divert to Rhode Island, Southwest blamed the unusually strong winds that blew down trees and power lines throughout the state on Monday. At some points, Eversource Energy was reporting thousands of outages among residential and commercial customers.
The failed landing at Bradley comes as Southwest is contending with a slew of canceled flights over the last two weeks. On Feb. 21, the airline dropped nearly 400 flights, or about 9 percent of its schedule, due to problematic weather and maintenance issues, according to a report from USA Today. More flights were delayed after a computer outage the next day.
According to the newspaper, Southwest leadership took the unusual step of publicly apologizing to passengers for the problem and blamed the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association for disrupting ongoing work and contributing to the pileup of delays.
Union officials, in turn, accused Southwest of scapegoating its own technicians and said safety was their top priority, USA Today reported.
Southwest has not said how many of the cancellations were linked to maintenance issues and how many were attributable to inclement weather.
Original article can be found here ➤ https://www.journalinquirer.com
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