WARWICK, R.I. -- Two Southwest Airlines flights left Baltimore Monday night bound for Rhode Island, but it was just the beginning of a back-and-forth odyssey for dozens of passengers.
This is interesting, Southwest and FAA's statement conflict each others.
Southwest Statement--One of the planes tried to land in Rhode Island, but when the approach failed, the pilot flew back to Baltimore.
The control tower at T.F. Green closes at midnight, and a spokeswoman from Southwest Airlines said the airline did request that it remain open.
"We made the request for both flights for the tower to stay open, and the local tower refused. Once they refused, we had no choice but to return back to Baltimore because we need the guidance of air traffic controllers to land in the weather conditions that were present," spokeswoman Whitney Eichinger said.
FAA Statement--A Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said based on control tower recordings, Southwest's version of events is "not true."
"Southwest made a decision to return to Baltimore after the pilot attempted to make a landing ... [and] missed his approach," spokesman Jim Peters said. "Based on conversations, it was not necessary for the tower to be open when that plane landed."
While I do trust Southwest Airlines, I do find it disturbing the pilot attempted to land at PVD without the guidance of the ATC there. If what FAA says is true, then WN may have just lied, about trying to land there and they had tried to do an attempted, but missed approach.
Anyone else know about this?
Alex
This is interesting, Southwest and FAA's statement conflict each others.
Southwest Statement--One of the planes tried to land in Rhode Island, but when the approach failed, the pilot flew back to Baltimore.
The control tower at T.F. Green closes at midnight, and a spokeswoman from Southwest Airlines said the airline did request that it remain open.
"We made the request for both flights for the tower to stay open, and the local tower refused. Once they refused, we had no choice but to return back to Baltimore because we need the guidance of air traffic controllers to land in the weather conditions that were present," spokeswoman Whitney Eichinger said.
FAA Statement--A Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said based on control tower recordings, Southwest's version of events is "not true."
"Southwest made a decision to return to Baltimore after the pilot attempted to make a landing ... [and] missed his approach," spokesman Jim Peters said. "Based on conversations, it was not necessary for the tower to be open when that plane landed."
While I do trust Southwest Airlines, I do find it disturbing the pilot attempted to land at PVD without the guidance of the ATC there. If what FAA says is true, then WN may have just lied, about trying to land there and they had tried to do an attempted, but missed approach.
Anyone else know about this?
Alex
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