Gunfire hits commercial airliner near cockpit as plane taxis before takeoff — and shocked passengers speak out



A bullet hit a Southwest Airlines plane near the cockpit as the flight was taxiing for takeoff at Dallas Love Field on Friday night, KXAS-TV reported.

An airport spokesperson told the station the gunfire forced an evacuation of the flight, and KXAS added that Dallas Police are looking for whoever pulled the trigger.

'The fact that it hit so very close to the cockpit seems too much of a coincidence.'

Flight 2494 was struck around 8:30 p.m., KXAS said, citing the Federal Aviation Administration, which added that the plane — which was taxiing for takeoff to Indianapolis — returned to the gate where passengers deplaned.

Police told the station they responded to a shooting call around 9:48 p.m., and no one was hurt.

The runway was temporarily closed Friday night while police conducted their investigation, KXAS added.

A Southwest spokesperson told the station the plane was removed from service.

Police said they're leading the investigation, KXAS reported, adding an FBI airport liaison agent has been assigned to work with police "and other federal partners as deemed necessary."

'A rattle outside of the plane'

The station spoke to Shannon and Jamie Lee who were aboard the flight with two of their children; the couple told KXAS everything seemed normal until they heard the pilot on the loudspeaker.

"He said there's a rattle outside of the plane, and they needed to return back to the gate," Jamie Lee recalled to the station.

The couple told KXAS the pilot said the plane needed to be checked to determine if it was functional — then added that the front of the plane was damaged, and everyone would have to deplane.

The Lees told the station everyone was calm.

"We had no idea that something happened," Shannon Lee told KXAS. "We thought Southwest had missed something in an inspection or something, you know ... a normal mechanical issue."

The couple and their two sons didn't find out about the gunfire until they landed in Indianapolis around 2:30 a.m. and encountered a news crew, the station station said.

“I had my son with me. He was sitting in the window seat. ... And we were just in row 13. So, we were pretty close to the cockpit," Shannon Lee added to KXAS.

While the Lees told the station they're grateful for the way Southwest handled the initial sharing of information with passengers, they believe they should have been told what happened before getting on another flight.

"I was surprised that they had shut the runway, not really knowing if there were potentially other shots being fired or where the shot could have even come from," Jamie Lee told KXAS.

Had they known the plane was shot at, the couple told the station they likely would have gone home that night and delayed their flight another day — or flown out of DFW International Airport instead.

"You have to give people a choice, whether they want to put their safety at risk a second time in one night," Shannon Lee told KXAS.

The Lees added to the station that they want to find out what investigators uncover and what safety improvements may result before walking away from one of their favorite airports and airlines.

"We fly quite a bit ... and ... our kids fly on their own," Shannon Lee told KXAS. "So, it is concerning."

The station said Southwest sent the Lees an email apology as well as a voucher toward a future flight.

'Holy cow'

Armen Kurdian — a retired Navy captain and Naval flight officer — told KXAS his "first thought is like, 'Holy cow, somebody just shot a gun, and it hit a commercial aircraft!"

Kurdian added to the station that investigators will start by figuring out where the bullet came from: "So, what was the orientation of the aircraft when it was actually hit? How deep did the bullet penetrate? That'll tell you what its speed was. And that'll give you an idea of the range from which it was fired."

Kurdian added to KXAS they'll also be looking into whether or not the shot was intentional: "The fact that it hit so very close to the cockpit seems too much of a coincidence. The odds of that happening, I think, got to be really, really high."

He also told the station that the damage could be wide-ranging — from something small like an inoperative light switch to something bigger, such as the GPS system not working.

"Now, if [the bullet] hits something more vital, say like a hydraulic system, then the pilots would be alerted rather quickly that there would be ... a pressure drop in the hydraulic system," Kurdian added to KXAS.

He noted to the station that such airliners have a lot of backup systems, and it's likely a bullet to the cockpit would not have caused a crash — but the whole ordeal presents a security vulnerability.

"Did this put an idea into, say, a non-state or a state actor as, 'Oh, maybe this is something we can do to disrupt air travel'?" Kurdian wondered to KXAS.

He added to the station that it would be wise for the airport and other agencies to look into safety measures.

"So, does it mean random sweeps outside of the airport while flight operations are going on?" Kurdian asked the KXAS. "Does it mean that there [are] going to be more physical barricades or basically physical barriers — not just fences but things that you actually can't see through, concrete — around the airport?"

You can view a video report here about the incident.

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Southwest Airlines: Where Freedom (Open Seating) Goes To Die

[rebelmouse-proxy-image https://thefederalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Screenshot-2024-07-25-at-10.08.18 AM-e1721920125172-1200x675.png crop_info="%7B%22image%22%3A%20%22https%3A//thefederalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Screenshot-2024-07-25-at-10.08.18%5Cu202fAM-e1721920125172-1200x675.png%22%7D" expand=1]RIP open seating. You were the last semblance of freedom in a greedy industry dominated by subsidized tyrants.

Under The Weight Of Southwest’s ‘Fatties Fly Free’ Policy, Normal People Will Pay More

There's nothing I hate more than waking up from a 40,000-foot nap to find my seatmate's sprawling caboose taking up half the seat I paid for. But that's just it: I paid for it.

FAA investigating near collision after Cessna nearly lands on top of Southwest Airlines 737 taking off



A Cessna Citation business jet flew within an alarmingly close proximity to a Boeing 737 that was taking off at the San Diego International Airport on Friday. Now, the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the near collision in California.

Just before 12:00 p.m. on Friday, a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 was about to take off. At the same time, the air traffic controller cleared the Cessna Citation to land on the same runway.

The FAA said in a statement, "The controller had previously cleared the Citation to land on Runway 27 and then instructed Southwest Flight 2493 to taxi onto that runway and wait for instructions to depart."

The automated ground surveillance system detected the two aircraft were dangerously close to colliding with each other and alerted the air traffic controller.

Simply Flying reported, "The controller immediately directed the Cessna to discontinue the landing procedure, thereby avoiding an oncoming catastrophe."

The Cessna flew approximately 100 feet directly above the Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 on the runway.

— (@)

The Cessna safely landed at San Diego International Airport. Meanwhile, Southwest Airlines Flight 2493 took off and later safely landed as scheduled in San Jose, California.

No injuries were reported on either aircraft.

The FAA and NTSB are investigating the near collision, and Southwest Airlines is assisting authorities in the investigation. The FAA is sending a team of experts to the San Diego International Airport to investigate.

Shockingly, this is the sixth near-collision event on airport runways since January.

In February, a similar near-collision event nearly happened in February when a FedEx cargo plane came within 115 feet of almost landing on a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 taking off at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.

Then in June, an Allegiant Air plane nearly crashed with a small aircraft at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.

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FAA investigating near collision at San Diego International Airport | NewsNation Prime www.youtube.com

Texas judge orders Southwest Airlines attorneys to 'religious-liberty training' for flouting his ruling in pro-life discrimination case



A federal judge in the Lone Star State has ordered three attorneys for Southwest Airlines to attend a Christian law firm's eight-hour course on religious liberty for having violated court orders issuing from a pro-life flight attendant's religious discrimination case.

In addition to hammering the attorneys over their apparent insolence, U.S. District Judge Brantley Starr, nominated by former President Donald Trump in 2019, has made sure Southwest cannot hide from its employees its past discriminatory behavior or its legal inability to repeat that behavior, requiring that they say as much in an internal memo.

What's the background?

TheBlaze previously reported that Southwest Airlines fired Charlene Carter in 2017 for expressing pro-life views and taking issue with the requirement that she subsidize pro-abortion activism by way of mandatory union dues. She had been with the airline for roughly 20 years.

With the help of free legal aid from the National Right to Work Foundation, Carter took the Transport Workers Union and Southwest to court.

In July 2022, a federal jury agreed that Carter had been wrongfully terminated for her pro-life and religious views and awarded the former flight attendant a $5.1 million verdict — $950,000 from Local 556 of the Transport Workers Union and $4.15 million from Southwest Airlines.

Starr reportedly had to reduce the original amount to $810,180, including $150,000 in back pay, because federal discrimination law limits damages that companies can pay out.

In December, Starr further ordered the company to reinstate Carter with full seniority and benefits.

Violations

Extra to compensation and reinstatement, Starr ordered the airline and union to take various corrective actions, such as informing "Southwest flight attendants that, under Title VII, they may not discriminate against Southwest flight attendants for their religious practices and beliefs, including – but not limited to – those expressed on social media and those concerning abortion."

It appears the airline did not follow Starr's order to the letter or even the sentence.

According to a sanction order issued by Starr on Monday, messages dispatched by Southwest airlines to employees "failed to mention Title VII, that the federal law known as Title VII contains a prohibition, and that that prohibition forbids Southwest from discriminating against flight attendants for their religious beliefs."

Instead, they said only, "Southwest does not discriminate against our Employees for their religious practices and beliefs.

"In the universe we live in — the one where words mean something — Southwest's notice didn't come close to complying with the Court's order," wrote Starr.

The federal judge indicated the attorneys for the airline further violated the court's corrective order by circulating a memo around the company "stating that its employees must abide by the types of policies over which Southwest fired Carter and that it believed its firing of Carter was justified because of these policies."

Consequently, Carter moved for sanctions, and the court moved to take Southwest to task once more.

Remedies

The airline has been ordered to send attorneys Ferrie Forbes, Kevin Minchey, and Chris Maberry to religious liberty training, which will be conducted by the Alliance Defending Freedom, concluding that this "is the least restrictive means of achieving compliance with the Court's order."

Starr stated that "Southwest must transport ADF's representative to Dallas and be responsible for any food, accommodation, or other travel expenses for ADF's representative."

Starr has also ordered the airline to issue an email to its flight attendants explaining how its previous messages were wrong, along with the correct message.

Concerning the order, Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Foundation, said in a statement obtained by TheBlaze, "Southwest’s past behavior against Carter was discriminatory and illegal, and the District Court’s order rightly shuts down Southwest Airlines’ bald-faced attempt to dodge its responsibility to inform flight attendants of its wrongdoing."

"Hopefully this order provides hope to other independent minded workers that their right to express their religious dissent against union and company political agendas cannot so easily be waved away," added Mix.

The ADF said in a statement to CNN it is "pleased that the judge and jury protected the religious speech of the employee in this case."

Jim Campbell, chief legal counsel for ADF, said, "Every company should respect religious liberty and diverse viewpoints in the workplace. ... We are happy to help Southwest achieve that goal by providing training on Title VII and other applicable laws barring religious discrimination."

Southwest and the union appealed the December ruling and told CNN they will similarly appeal Starr's sanctions order.

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'Did that mother****er pay extra to yell?' Southwest passenger loses his mind over crying baby, gets booted off plane



A crying baby proved too much to handle for one middle-aged Southwest Airlines traveler who responded with his own temper tantrum, of a far more vulgar variety. While it appears the nonverbal infant ultimately made it to Miami, the deranged passenger was escorted away by police.
Mark Grabowski, a passenger on the flight, captured the incident on video, which has since gone viral.
Grabowski told WOFL-TV that the flight was originally headed to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, but got diverted to Orlando International Airport due to undesirable weather conditions.
"It was a little bumpy and uncomfortable for everyone and the child was upset, but we couldn't get up because of the weather, and we were strapped in our seats," said Grabowski.
With everyone confined to their seats, the baby's parents were no doubt limited in their ability to console the child, shaken by the turbulence.
According to Grabowski, upon being roused from his slumber, the deranged passenger "basically said shut that baby up, and it escalated from there."
The deranged passenger can be heard saying in the video, "Why is the baby yelling? I'm not screaming. You want me to scream? You want me to scream?! I'll f***ing scream. Please stop the baby."
Monique Pass, also a passenger on the flight, told "Good Morning America," "All of a sudden, this guy was just screaming on the top of his lungs. It was definitely a good five minutes or so, and it was just getting worse and worse and worse."
When one flight attendant informed the deranged passenger that he was yelling, he responded, "So is the baby."
To which the attendant said, "OK, you're a man."
This response prompted the deranged passenger to wonder aloud, "Did that motherf***er pay extra to yell?"
Flight attendants tried to pacify the passenger, going so far as to relocate a woman and the baby to the back of the plane. It wasn't enough, however; the passenger lost himself in an unhinged, expletive-filled rant.
"We are in a f***ing tin can with a baby in a g*****n echo chamber and you want to talk to me about being f***ing OK?" he can be heard screaming in the video.
At one point, the deranged passenger notes that as they had not yet entered the airspace over Florida, the baby was not yet free to do whatever it felt like.
After repeated attempts to calm down the passenger failed, WOFL reported that the flight crew contacted the authorities.
\u201cFlight attendant: \u201cYou\u2019re yelling\u201d\nPassenger: \u201cSo is the baby!\u201d\nFlight attendant: \u201cWell you\u2019re a man\u201d\nPassenger: \u201cDid that mf pay extra to yell?\u201d \n\nLmfaooooo\n\nhttps://t.co/qDSFV89ay6\u201d
— Akhil Vohra (@Akhil Vohra) 1681848643
Upon landing in Orlando, the Southwest crew reportedly gave the deranged passenger the option of getting off the plane of his own volition or being forcibly removed after all other passengers were deplaned.
Grabowksi told WOFL, "He chose the latter, and we all got off the plane and there was a lot of mumbling past him."
"Good Morning America" reported that police officers met the deranged passenger at the gate.
Southwest Airlines said in a statement, "We commend our crew for exhibiting outstanding professionalism while handling a challenging situation, and we offer our apologies to the other customers onboard who had to experience such unacceptable behavior."

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Southwest captain becomes 'incapacitated' mid-flight, off-duty pilot from another airline helps land plane



A Southwest Airlines pilot became "incapacitated" during a recent flight. Luckily for the flight out of Las Vegas, there was an off-duty pilot who helped land the commercial airliner.

Southwest Flight #6013 departed Harry Reid International Airport at 6:33 a.m. on Wednesday. But soon after takeoff, the captain became "incapacitated" and "needed medical attention," a spokesperson for Southwest Airlines said.

"The captain became incapacitated while en route. He’s in the back of the aircraft right now with a flight attendant, but we need to get him on an ambulance immediately," a flight crew member is heard saying in air traffic control audio from LiveATC.net, according to CNN.

The airline did not provide a detailed account of the health issues that the pilot encountered. NBC News reported that someone was heard saying the captain had experienced stomach pain and "fainted," according to the air traffic control audio.

An off-duty pilot from another airline stepped up to help navigate the plane, scheduled to fly to Columbus, Ohio.

"A credentialed pilot from another airline, who was on board, entered the flight deck and assisted with radio communication while our Southwest pilot flew the aircraft," said Southwest spokesperson Chris Perry. "We greatly appreciate their support and assistance."

The off-duty pilot helped return the Boeing 737 to the airport in Las Vegas after an hour and 17 minutes in the air, according to flight data from FlightAware. Another flight crew came in, and the plane continued to Columbus.

Southwest Airlines said, "It's standard procedure for our flight crews to request assistance from traveling medical personnel during in-flight medical events involving customers, this situation just so happened to involve one of our employees."

"We commend the crew for their professionalism and appreciate our customers’ patience and understanding regarding the situation," the spokesperson added.

Southwest Airlines did not provide any updates on the pilot's condition.

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the incident.

The FAA issued a warning on Wednesday urging pilots to take "safety actions." The FAA statement advised pilots to be aware of the risks of collisions during runway crossings.

Last month, an Air Canada airliner nearly collided with an American Airlines plane on the runway at the Sarasota–Bradenton International Airport in Florida.

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Buttigieg Responded Quicker To Rumors About A Senate Bid Than He Did Publicly To Airline Crisis

'I’m tracking closely & will have more to say about this tomorrow'

Editor Daily Rundown: Dems Turning On ‘Failing’ Buttigieg

Calling all Patriots!

Fox News co-host blames capitalism for Southwest Airlines meltdown: 'This is not even about Pete Buttigieg'



Fox News contributor Richard Fowler, guest co-host on "The Five," blamed capitalism on Wednesday for the Southwest Airlines meltdown.

Southwest Airlines, previously thought to be one of the better airlines to fly on, has left tens of thousands of travelers stranded over the holiday season after the company canceled thousands of flights. Indeed, the vast majority of canceled flights over the holiday season have been Southwest flights.

Outdated systems and brutally cold winter weather are being blamed for the problems, but that is no consolation to stranded travelers.

What did Fowler say?

Republicans, and even some Democrats, are partially blaming Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg for the meltdown. They argue he has abdicated his vocational responsibilities, which include responding to transportation crises.

Fowler, however, completely rejected the argument.

"Democrats had a lot of hope in Pete Buttigieg. Are they embarrassed of just how he's performed over the last couple of years?" co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy asked Fowler.

"This is not even about Pete Buttigieg, though," he responded, amused by the suggestion.

"Ninety percent of the flights canceled in the United States today are from Southwest Airlines because you have a bad management, they have bad software," he went on to say. "You can't blame the flight attendants, you can't blame the pilots, you can't blame the ramp agents.

"You have to blame the people who sit in the corporate suites of Southwest Airlines for canceling flights. Period. The end of story," Fowler declared. "To blame Pete Buttigieg for the fact that Southwest can't manage their planes is ridiculous."

Instead, Fowler blamed capitalism for the meltdown.

"Once again, this is about capitalism and an airline that cannot manage it," he claimed. "Don't fly Southwest Airlines."

\u201cFox's Rachel Campos-Duffy asks resident liberal Richard Fowler a "sincere question" on whether Dems recognize how much Mayor Pete sucks at his job.\n\nFowler says it's "ridiculous" to blame Buttigieg for flight cancellations as over 90% are from one airline that can't manage them.\u201d
— Justin Baragona (@Justin Baragona) 1672267696

Anything else?

Southwest chief commercial officer Ryan Green issued a new apology on behalf of the airline Wednesday.

"My personal apology on behalf of myself and everyone at Southwest Airlines for all of this," Green said in a video message.

The airline executive said Southwest Airlines is committed to re-earning customers' trust and will start doing so by giving travelers increased "flexibility" for travel arrangements impacted by the meltdown and reimbursing them for expenses directly related to Southwest's problems.