Southwest plane in terrifying near-miss at Maine airport

By Alexa Cimino For Dailymail.Com

22:07 28 Jun 2024, updated 23:43 28 Jun 2024

A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 flying to Baltimore from Portland, Maine had a heart-stopping incident on Tuesday morning. 

The plane departed from runway 29 at 5:43 am, just two minutes before it was scheduled to open for traffic. 

Alarmingly, the runway was undergoing a safety inspection at the time, with a ground vehicle present.

While no one was hurt in the incident, the situation raised serious concerns. 

After the near-miss, the ground vehicle driver contacted the control tower, baffled as to why the plane had been cleared for takeoff from a closed runway. 

Shockingly, the tower responded that they had never communicated with the pilots.

In leaked air traffic control recordings, controllers are heard repeatedly trying to warn Flight 4805 about the vehicle and the closed runway. 

One recording even captures a controller saying, ‘just so you know, there is a vehicle on the runway, and it is closed…I tried warning him.’ 

This incident is raising questions about communication breakdowns and safety protocols at the airport and is currently under investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are investigating the incident.

In a statement to Newsweek, a spokesperson said: ‘Southwest Airlines is engaged with the NTSB and FAA to understand the circumstances of the early morning departure of Flight 4805 from Portland International Jetport on Tuesday, June 25. After departure, the aircraft continued safely to its destination.’

Boeing finds itself under increased scrutiny following a series of concerning incidents in recent months.

The latest incident occurred on June 25th, when a Southwest flight from Portland, Maine (Flight 4805) took off from a closed runway, narrowly avoiding a ground vehicle. This incident comes on the heels of two other concerning events.

On June 20th, a Southwest flight from Las Vegas (Flight 4069) dipped to a dangerously low altitude while approaching Oklahoma City Airport. 

The plane descended to just 525 feet while still miles from landing, triggering an alarm from air traffic control.

Even earlier, in late May, a Southwest Boeing 737 Max experienced a frightening ‘Dutch Roll’ mid-flight from Phoenix to Oakland. 

This maneuver involves the plane’s tail oscillating and the wings rolling up and down, causing what the FAA called ‘substantial’ damage that grounded the aircraft for repairs.

Their goal is to determine the cause of each issue and implement necessary safety measures to prevent similar occurrences in the future.