Southwest Airlines Flight Makes Emergency Landing 30 Miles From Destination

Correction Tuesday, May 16 8:32 a.m. EDT: This article originally reported that a Southwest Airlines flight made an emergency landing as a result of running out of fuel. It was updated to say the plane landed to avoid using contingency fuel reserve.

A Southwest Airlines flight bound for Pittsburgh was forced to make an emergency landing Sunday to avoid using contingency fuel reserve. It was just 30 miles from its destination. The airline said it reboarded its 143 customers on buses from a neighboring airport to the flight’s intended destination, and passengers aboard the carrier were given pizza.

“Southwest Flight 3316 operating from Orlando to Pittsburgh Sunday night safely landed at Allegheny County Airport to avoid using contingency fuel reserve,” a representative for Southwest Airlines confirmed in a Monday statement to International Business Times. “Out of an abundance of caution, the Captain in command declared an emergency to receive priority handling from air traffic controllers to use the alternate airport.”

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Details surrounding the reason for landing are still unclear, though News 6 reported Monday that passengers were told that an air show affected the flight’s ability to get clearance to land in Pittsburgh. The Southwest Airlines representative told IBT in a separate statement that pizza was offered as a form of “hospitality.”

“We did order pizza for our Customers onboard,” said the rep. “Ordering pizza wasn’t a form of compensation but rather a way for our Employees to show Hospitality in a time of irregular operations.”

Allegheny County Airport is located approximately 30 miles from the Pittsburgh International Airport. The airline did not comment on how many of its 143 customers missed connecting flights as a result of the emergency landing.

According to a December report from the Guardian, international flight regulations “require aircraft to carry enough reserve fuel to fly for 30 minutes after reaching their destination.” Accidents that result from fuel exhaustion are rare and account for just 0.5 percent of plane crashes.

The airline told IBT that no injuries were reported during the incident.

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Southwest Airlines made headlines last week after a fight broke out aboard a Southwest Airlines flight from Dallas, Texas while it was taxiing in Burbank, California before heading to its final destination. Authorities said that 37-year-old Lancaster resident Chaze Mickalo Cable was arrested for instigating the incident with another passenger. He was arrested for battery and assault and held on a bail of $50,000, IBT reported Wednesday.