The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is investigating an incident involving a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 that flew within several hundred feet of the ground over the City of Yukon.
This alarming event happened earlier this week when Southwest Airlines Flight 4069, en route from Las Vegas to Oklahoma City, descended as low as 400 feet above the neighborhood just after midnight on Wednesday, as per local Oklahoma news agency Kfor-TV.
Flight data confirms that the Boeing 737-800 hit its lowest altitude while flying over Yukon High School at 12.06 am (local time). The low-altitude pass was significant enough to wake Spencer Basoco, a resident living a few blocks from the school.
“I was kind of like halfway in between sleep and being awake, and I just hear this WHOOOSH. And I thought at first, like a storm was blowing in… because it just sounded like a wall of wind. And I looked out the window where the sound was coming from… if you go a few blocks away is the high school. And I just see a plane,” Basoco told News 4. “I knew it wasn’t normal,” Basoco added.
A News 4 viewer shared video footage captured by his doorbell camera which shows lights blinking on a jet-liner flying low above a neighborhood. The plane is visible at a considerable distance before it becomes obscured behind nearby rooftops.
According to air traffic control audio obtained by News 4, the pilots intended to land on runway 13, a crosswind runway at Will Rogers World Airport. As the plane hovered hundreds of feet above Yukon High School, an air traffic controller alerted the pilots to the “low altitude” when an alert was triggered.
“Southwest 4069… low altitude alert,” the air traffic controller said. “You doing okay?” . The pilot gave a response saying, “Yeah we’re going around 4069.”At this point, the plane was only 400-500 feet above the ground.
Immediately after the low altitude alert, flight records indicate the plane rapidly ascended from around 450 feet to more than 1,000 feet by the time it crossed the southern edge of Yukon High School’s property. The plane then circled back and approached the airport from the north, successfully landing on runway 17R which runs due north/south.
The next time the plane descended below 500 feet, it was within one mile of runway 17R during its final approach.
Southwest Airlines confirmed it is working with the FAA to determine the cause of the incident. “Southwest Flight 4069 landed safely at Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City just after 12 am on June 19. Southwest is following its robust Safety Management System and is in contact with the Federal Aviation Administration to understand and address any irregularities with the aircraft’s approach to the airport. Nothing is more important to Southwest than the Safety of our Customers and Employees,” said a Southwest Airlines spokesperson.
Southwest Airlines was also in news earlier this month, when their Boeing 737 Max experienced a “Dutch roll” during a flight from Phoenix to Oakland, California, on May 25, causing damage to the plane’s structure, according to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The incident occurred while the aircraft was cruising at an altitude of 34,000 feet but the airlines did not report the roll or the damage to the NTSB until June 7.
This alarming event happened earlier this week when Southwest Airlines Flight 4069, en route from Las Vegas to Oklahoma City, descended as low as 400 feet above the neighborhood just after midnight on Wednesday, as per local Oklahoma news agency Kfor-TV.
Flight data confirms that the Boeing 737-800 hit its lowest altitude while flying over Yukon High School at 12.06 am (local time). The low-altitude pass was significant enough to wake Spencer Basoco, a resident living a few blocks from the school.
“I was kind of like halfway in between sleep and being awake, and I just hear this WHOOOSH. And I thought at first, like a storm was blowing in… because it just sounded like a wall of wind. And I looked out the window where the sound was coming from… if you go a few blocks away is the high school. And I just see a plane,” Basoco told News 4. “I knew it wasn’t normal,” Basoco added.
A News 4 viewer shared video footage captured by his doorbell camera which shows lights blinking on a jet-liner flying low above a neighborhood. The plane is visible at a considerable distance before it becomes obscured behind nearby rooftops.
According to air traffic control audio obtained by News 4, the pilots intended to land on runway 13, a crosswind runway at Will Rogers World Airport. As the plane hovered hundreds of feet above Yukon High School, an air traffic controller alerted the pilots to the “low altitude” when an alert was triggered.
“Southwest 4069… low altitude alert,” the air traffic controller said. “You doing okay?” . The pilot gave a response saying, “Yeah we’re going around 4069.”At this point, the plane was only 400-500 feet above the ground.
Immediately after the low altitude alert, flight records indicate the plane rapidly ascended from around 450 feet to more than 1,000 feet by the time it crossed the southern edge of Yukon High School’s property. The plane then circled back and approached the airport from the north, successfully landing on runway 17R which runs due north/south.
The next time the plane descended below 500 feet, it was within one mile of runway 17R during its final approach.
Southwest Airlines confirmed it is working with the FAA to determine the cause of the incident. “Southwest Flight 4069 landed safely at Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City just after 12 am on June 19. Southwest is following its robust Safety Management System and is in contact with the Federal Aviation Administration to understand and address any irregularities with the aircraft’s approach to the airport. Nothing is more important to Southwest than the Safety of our Customers and Employees,” said a Southwest Airlines spokesperson.
Southwest Airlines was also in news earlier this month, when their Boeing 737 Max experienced a “Dutch roll” during a flight from Phoenix to Oakland, California, on May 25, causing damage to the plane’s structure, according to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The incident occurred while the aircraft was cruising at an altitude of 34,000 feet but the airlines did not report the roll or the damage to the NTSB until June 7.
