A federal investigation has been launched after Southwest Airlines Flight 2786 experienced a sudden plunge towards the ocean near a Hawaiian island. The incident, which took place on April 11, was only made public after a memo was sent to pilots by Southwest Airlines, according to Bloomberg.

The memo revealed that a "newer" first officer was flying the plane at the time and inadvertently pushed forward on the control column. Flight tracking data from ADS-B Exchange indicated that the aircraft dropped at a rate of over 4,000 feet per minute while being just 600 feet above sea level. The Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft descended as low as 400 feet before quickly ascending.

Southwest Airlines emphasized its commitment to safety, stating, "Nothing is more important to Southwest than Safety." The airline also mentioned that the incident was addressed appropriately through their Safety Management System. However, they did not provide further details in their response to the incident.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) stated that it was immediately informed of the incident and has initiated an investigation. On the other hand, the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association has not commented on the incident at this time.

The flight in question was a short inter-island trip from the main Honolulu airport to Lihue airport on the neighboring island of Kauai. The internal memo stated that the pilots decided to abort the landing due to unfavorable weather conditions. The aircraft subsequently returned to Honolulu.

It is worth noting that this is not the first incident of its kind in Hawaiian airspace. In December 2022, a United Airlines flight departing from a different Hawaiian airport also experienced a similar dive towards the ocean during bad weather. Fortunately, disaster was narrowly averted as the aircraft came within 748 feet of the water's surface. According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), miscommunication among the pilots regarding the airplane's flaps setting was determined to be the cause of that incident.

At this time, it remains unclear whether the NTSB will conduct an investigation into this recent Southwest Airlines incident.