A Southwest airplane almost crashed into a ground vehicle earlier this week after trying to depart from a closed runway in Portland, Maine.
The near collision is just the latest mishap in the troubled air travel industry, which has been plagued by blunders and scandals the last several years.
Some critics have claimed that companies like Southwest and Boeing have been putting more of an emphasis on “diversity, equity, and inclusion” initiatives than safety. For instance, according to an internal company presentation shared on the social media platform X, Southwest Airlines announced its intentions to double racial diversity and enhance gender diversity within its senior leadership team by 2025.
Here is some of what Jesus Mesa had to report about the latest incident for Newsweek:
A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 narrowly avoided a serious accident this week at the airport in Portland, Maine (PWM) when it took off from a closed runway, flying over an airport ground vehicle still on the runway.
The incident occurred early on Tuesday morning, when a full Southwest Flight 4805 to Baltimore departed from runway 29 at 5:43 am, two minutes before it was scheduled to open. At the time, the runway was being inspected for safety.
Following the near-miss, the ground vehicle’s driver contacted the control tower, questioning why the plane had taken off on a runway that hadn’t yet opened. The air traffic controller responded that the tower had never communicated with the pilots.
In audio recordings of air traffic control obtained by local media, controllers can be heard repeatedly warning Flight 4805, “just so you know, there is a vehicle on the runway, and it is closed.” Moments later, a controller is heard saying, “I tried warning him.”
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) confirmed that they are investigating the incident.
To read more about the near collision, please click HERE.