Southwest plane flies low over Oklahoma City suburb, FAA investigates

The US aviation authority is currently investigating after a Southwest Airline plane flew so low over Oklahoma early Wednesday that it triggered an altitude warning from air traffic control.

After an automatic warning sounded, an air traffic controller told the pilots of Flight 4069 that the jet had descended to a low altitude nine miles from Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) told USA TODAY.

According to the FAA website, the automated system is the Minimum Safe Altitude Warning (MSAW), which warns air traffic controllers when an aircraft is flying too low.

“Southwest 4069, low-level alert. Is everything OK out there?” the air traffic controller asked shortly after midnight on Wednesday, according to an audio archive of transmissions from LiveATC.net.

Hawaii FAA Investigation:Federal authorities investigate after Southwest plane crashes at a depth of 400 feet

The altitude apparently dropped to about 500 feet above the high school

The flight from Las Vegas, a Boeing 737-800, was cleared to land on a visual approach from the northwest, reported The Oklahoman, part of the USA TODAY Network.

Transponder data show the plane apparently descended to about 500 feet (150 meters) as it flew over a high school in Yukon, a city in Canadian County about 18 miles (29 kilometers) northwest of downtown Oklahoma City.

Second Southwest flight is subject of recent FAA investigation

The incident is the second altitude-related incident involving Southwest in just over two months that is being investigated by the FAA.

Southwest Flight 2786 crashed near a Hawaiian island on April 11 at an altitude of 400 feet above the Pacific Ocean, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed on Monday.

The plane briefly descended at an “abnormally high speed of more than 4,000 feet per minute” before pilots increased speed to avoid crashing into the water, according to a memo distributed by Southwest to pilots and obtained by Bloomberg, which first reported the news last week.

The flight crew performed a “roller coaster maneuver” to avoid impact with the sea, the outlet reported.

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