A Southwest Boeing 737 MAX 8 flying from Kahului to Las Vegas turned back roughly 90 minutes into the flight and diverted to Honolulu, landing safely with no injuries. The cause has not been confirmed, and the aircraft remained grounded in Honolulu the following day.
- Southwest Flight 139 departed Kahului (OGG) on July 5 around 8:40 PM HST and reversed course over the Pacific before diverting to Honolulu.
- The crew activated a 7700 emergency transponder code, which requests priority handling but does not specify the type or severity of the issue.
- The aircraft landed safely at Honolulu at 11:48 PM with no reported injuries; emergency vehicles were present as a standard precaution.
- Passengers faced an unplanned overnight disruption and rebooking after their red-eye arrived at a different island airport instead of Las Vegas.
- Southwest has not publicly stated what prompted the turnback, and the aircraft had not returned to service as of the morning of July 6.
Source: Beatofhawaii
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