They were scared of their lives. On Wednesday, shortly after midnight, residents of Oklahoma City (United States) saw a plane flying at very, very low altitude. According to the local daily Oklahoman, it was flying about 150 meters above their neighborhood. “He woke me up and I thought he was going to crash into my house,” one resident wrote on social media.
According to CNN, the Boeing 737-800 coming from Las Vegas was approximately 14 kilometers from the Oklahoma airport at the time of the incident. After receiving an automatic alert, an air traffic controller warned the pilots that they were too close to the ground. The plane then quickly regained altitude before landing safely.
A first failed landing attempt
Southwest has opened an investigation to shed light on this incident which could have been dramatic. According to authorities, the aircraft missed its approach during its first landing attempt. He would then have regained altitude then circled around the airport before landing without incident.
In a press release relayed by CNN, the company recalls that “nothing is more important than the safety of (its) customers and (its) employees”. “Southwest follows its safety management system and is in contact with the Federal Aviation Administration to understand and address irregularities in the aircraft’s approach to the airport,” she also said. .