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Winds divert planes to Williams Gateway
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Three Southwest Airlines 737 jets were diverted to Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport on Monday morning due to turbulent weather at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix.
Sky Harbor spokeswoman Julie Rodriguez said the planes were sent to Gateway because of wind shear. Matthew Hirsch, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Phoenix, said wind shear is a sudden change in direction and speed of wind in a small area. He said it’s a downdraft, likely no more than around 12 mph.
In an e-mail, Bill Estle of the National Weather Service said he and other meteorologists noticed a small area of wind shear west of a Sky Harbor runway “that probably caused some consternation.”
“Anytime the wind goes from being a headwind to a tailwind while in the landing process, it can be a concern, even with relatively light winds.” Estle wrote. “It’s the wind direction change that causes heartburn to pilots while landing, not necessarily the wind speeds.”
Southwest spokesman Chris Mainz in Dallas said that Sky Harbor was the destination for each plane. He said the flights came from Albuquerque, N.M. (100 passengers), Louisville, Ky. (nine passengers), and San Jose, Calif. (64 passengers).
Patrick Oakley, community relations coordinator for Gateway, said it’s the first time in his 14 years with the airport he can recall more than one large plane being diverted to it in a short time period.
Oakley said the planes landed between 8:34 a.m. and 8:45 a.m., and departed between 9:45 a.m. and 9:53 a.m. He added that all three refueled and that a total of seven passengers deplaned during the stops.
“This type of thing is unusual here,” Rodriguez said of the weather. “It doesn’t happen as often here as other cities because of our climate. We had departure delays for about a half-hour, some planes circling and some diverted and landed. The planes did come back here from Gateway.”
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