Flying feels like magic until it doesn't. Most of us just want the pretzels and a decent Wi-Fi connection, but last year, a Southwest Airlines flight nearly ended up in the Pacific Ocean. It happened fast. Specifically, a Southwest Boeing 737 Max 8 dropped toward the water at an alarming rate of 4,000 feet per minute. That isn't a "dip." That is a terrifying plunge.
The Southwest Airlines near miss near Lihue Airport in Kauai back in April 2024 wasn't just a fluke. It was a wake-up call for the entire industry. When you're sitting in seat 12B, you assume the cockpit has everything under control. Usually, they do. But in this case, a combination of nasty weather and a split-second human error almost led to a catastrophe.
The plane got as low as 400 feet from the ocean surface. Think about that. That is shorter than the height of a 40-story building. If the pilots hadn't pulled up exactly when they did, we’d be talking about a very different story today.
What actually happened in the cockpit during that Southwest Airlines near miss?
It started with a missed approach. The weather in Kauai was being difficult—nothing unusual for the islands, but enough to make visibility a problem. The captain decided to let the first officer take the reins for the landing. That’s standard practice; it’s how junior pilots gain experience. But the conditions were worsening.
The first officer "inadvertently" pushed forward on the control column.
In a plane like the 737 Max, that movement tells the aircraft to dive. Because the auto-throttle was being managed in a specific way, the plane didn't fight back immediately. The descent rate accelerated. Fast. Most passengers probably felt that "stomach in your throat" sensation, but in the back of the plane, you don't always know if it's turbulence or something much darker.
The alarms started screaming. "Pull up!"
The captain had to take over. This is what's known as "positive exchange of controls." It has to be instant. If you hesitate for three seconds, you're in the water. Luckily, the captain yanked the plane back into a climb. They survived. But the data showed just how close it was.
The 4,000 feet per minute problem
Let’s talk numbers. A normal descent for landing is usually around 700 to 1,000 feet per minute. It's gentle. It's predictable. When you hit 4,000 feet per minute while you’re already close to the ground, you are essentially in a controlled fall.
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The FAA and the NTSB didn't just look at this and shrug. They dug into why the "Safety Management System" (SMS) at Southwest didn't flag some of the underlying stresses before this happened.
Honestly, the Southwest Airlines near miss wasn't an isolated vibe. It was part of a string of "close calls" that plagued the U.S. aviation system throughout 2023 and 2024. We saw the incident in Austin where a FedEx plane and a Southwest plane almost collided on a runway. We saw the engine fire in Houston. It feels like the margin for error is getting thinner.
Why?
Some experts point to the "experience gap." After the pandemic, a massive wave of senior pilots took early retirement. The industry replaced them quickly, but you can't download thirty years of "gut feeling" into a new hire's brain. The first officer in the Kauai incident was described as "relatively new" to the airframe. That matters. It's not about lack of skill; it's about muscle memory in a crisis.
Pilot fatigue and the "pressure to land"
Southwest has a legendary culture, but they’ve been under fire lately. Between the 2022 holiday meltdown and these technical scares, the pressure is on.
When a pilot is flying into a place like Lihue—which is a tricky airport even on a sunny day—there is a psychological weight to "get the job done." If you go around and divert to Honolulu, you're costing the company money. You're making passengers late. You're messing up the crew's schedule.
Most pilots will tell you safety comes first. And it does. But "plan continuation bias" is a real thing. It’s the tendency to keep going with the original plan even when the situation has changed. In the Southwest Airlines near miss, the crew initially tried to push through the weather before the "go-around" went sideways.
The Boeing 737 Max 8 factor
We can't talk about this without mentioning the plane. The Max 8 has a heavy history. While the Kauai incident was attributed to pilot error and weather, the way the plane responds to manual inputs is something pilots are still deeply training for.
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The flight data recorder showed that the aircraft's "Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System" (EGPWS) worked exactly as intended. It saved lives. If this had happened thirty years ago without that tech? We’d be looking at a memorial on a beach.
What the FAA is doing about it now
The fallout from this incident resulted in Southwest issuing a memo to its pilots. They changed their training protocols. They're focusing more on "human factors"—basically, how the brain fails under stress.
The FAA also held a "Safety Summit" to address the rise in near misses across the country. They realized that the "Swiss Cheese Model" of accidents (where multiple small holes align to create a disaster) was becoming a recurring pattern.
One major change: More focus on "CRM" or Crew Resource Management. This is the art of how a captain and a first officer talk to each other. In the Kauai Southwest Airlines near miss, there was a brief moment of confusion about who was doing what. That shouldn't happen.
Is it still safe to fly?
Statistically? Yes. It's still the safest way to travel. You're more likely to get hurt driving to the airport than on the actual flight.
But these incidents remind us that safety isn't a destination. It's a constant, exhausting process. When you hear the engines roar and the plane climbs out of a botched landing, don't be annoyed that you'll be thirty minutes late. Be thankful the pilots did their jobs.
Southwest has since stated they are "committed to continuous improvement." That’s corporate speak for "we realized we almost had a nightmare on our hands and we're scrambling to fix it."
Actionable steps for the concerned traveler
If these headlines make you nervous, you don't have to just sit there and white-knuckle the armrest. Here is how to handle the "new reality" of aviation safety:
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Pay attention to the weather. If your flight to a difficult airport (like Kauai, Orange County, or Burbank) has a "weather advisory," expect a bumpy ride or a potential go-around. Knowing it's a possibility reduces the panic if it actually happens.
Check the tail number. You can use apps like FlightRadar24 to see the history of the specific plane you’re boarding. It won't tell you if a pilot is tired, but it gives you a sense of the aircraft's recent performance.
Listen to the briefing. Seriously. In the unlikely event of a water landing—which the Southwest Airlines near miss nearly was—you need to know where that vest is. Not in a "the sky is falling" way, but in a "I'm a prepared adult" way.
Voice your concerns. If you see something truly weird—like a flight attendant looking panicked or a mechanical part looking "off"—say something. Usually, it's nothing. But the industry relies on a "see something, say something" culture.
The Southwest Airlines near miss in Hawaii was a miracle of timing and technology. It showed that even when humans make a mistake, the systems we’ve built can often catch us. But we shouldn't have to rely on the last line of defense. The goal is to never get that close to the water in the first place.
Aviation safety is a game of inches. In Kauai, those inches were all that stood between a routine flight and a national tragedy. Moving forward, the industry is leaning heavily into more simulator time for pilots and better weather-monitoring tech to ensure "inadvertent" movements don't become fatal ones.
The next time you fly Southwest, you'll likely have a perfectly boring flight. And in the world of aviation, "boring" is the highest compliment you can give.
Stay informed. Pay attention. And maybe give the pilots a nod when you deplane—they’re doing a harder job than most of us realize.
Key Takeaways for Future Travel:
- Aviation Safety Reports: You can search the NASA ASRS database to see anonymous safety reports filed by pilots. It’s eye-opening.
- Go-Arounds are Good: If your pilot aborts a landing, they are choosing safety over convenience. Applaud it.
- Training Matters: Southwest has invested millions into new flight simulators in Dallas to specifically recreate the conditions found in the Kauai incident.
- Support ATC: Air Traffic Controllers are the unsung heroes who often spot these altitude deviations before they become crashes. They are currently understaffed, which is a major talking point in 2026 aviation policy.