Safety experts recommended Wednesday that airlines develop realistic training to prepare their pilots to deal with smoke filling the cockpit, similar to what occurred on a Southwest Airlines plane after a bird strike in 2023. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) stated that the pilots who safely landed that aircraft in New Orleans reported that the situation was far more challenging than anything they had ever encountered during training.
NTSB Warning on Cockpit Smoke
“If such an event occurred at night or in instrument meteorological conditions, the consequences could be catastrophic,” the NTSB determined. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) receives reports of smoke in the cockpit almost daily, but the NTSB noted that the agency still does not require airlines to conduct realistic smoke-in-cockpit simulations. Instead, training typically consists of a discussion of what to do in that situation. The FAA did not immediately respond Wednesday to the new recommendation.
Southwest Airlines Incident Details
The Southwest pilots at the controls during the December 2023 incident said they had trouble seeing their instruments and checklists. They quickly donned oxygen masks and followed emergency procedures to land. None of the 139 people aboard were hurt.
Southwest and the Airlines for America trade group did not immediately respond to the new report. Last year, the NTSB urged Boeing and engine maker CFM to quickly develop a software fix for the engines on the 737 Max to help prevent smoke from filling the cockpit or cabin after a safety feature is activated following a bird strike. The plane and engine makers did not immediately provide an update Wednesday on the fix.
