The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating after a Southwest Airlines flight came within 400ft of the ocean following an aborted landing attempt. 

The Boeing 737 MAX 8 plunged at a maximum descent rate of about 4,400ft per minute off the coast of Hawaii before climbing back up to safety on 11 April.

The plane had been flying between cities from Honolulu to Lihue airport in Kauai, but bad weather conditions prompted pilots to bypass a landing attempt.

During the go-around – when a plane flies back up in the air after deciding not to land – the first officer “inadvertently pushed forward on the control column while following thrust lever movement commanded by the autothrottle”, according to a memo sent to pilots and seen by the Reuters news agency.

The action sent the aircraft dangerously close to hitting the Pacific Ocean.

Safety data confirmed the crew received a “DON’T SINK oral warning” followed by a “PULL UP oral warning”, the memo said, but the first officer later said the crew did not hear the warnings.

There were no reports of injuries.

It comes as a separate Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 suffered damage to its infrastructure after it experienced what is known as a “Dutch roll” during a flight from Phoenix to Oakland in California on 25 May.

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A “Dutch roll” refers to a combination of the aircraft tail swaying from side to side (yawing) and the plane rocking in a way that causes the wings to go up and down.

Pilots regained control and landed safety, but damage to the unit that controls backup power to the rudder was described as “substantial”. The incident is being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board.

‘Emotional event’

In a post-incident debrief concerning the Hawaii flight, the pilots reportedly said seeing the severity of the flight’s movements through an animated recreation “was a significant, emotional event,” the Southwest memo said.

The memo added that the crew participated in comprehensive corrective actions and the airline is reviewing data and trends related to its procedures, training, standards, and performance.

Southwest said in a statement on 14 June that “the event was addressed appropriately as we always strive for continuous improvement”.

Elsewhere, a plane bound for Melbourne, Australia, landed in the New Zealand city of Invercargill after a fire shut down one of its engines.

The Virgin Australia Boeing 737-800 jet was met with fire engines when it landed, about 50 minutes after it took off. The airline said in an emailed statement that the incident may have involved “a possible bird strike”.

Boeing 737-800s are the generation of 737s before the newer MAXs, which have been hit with a series of safety concerns including a incident in which a chunk of fuselage fell out and two crashes which grounded the fleet.

Dozens of Palestinians have gathered near the ruins of a mosque destroyed by Israeli airstrikes to perform Eid al Adha prayers.

They were surrounded by the debris and rubble of collapsed houses at the former site of the al Rahma mosque in the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza to mark the start of the major holiday.

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Commonly translated as the Feast of Sacrifice, Eid al Adha is the second of the two main Islamic holidays – alongside Eid al Fitr – when better-off Muslims commemorate Ibrahim’s test of faith by slaughtering livestock and animals and distributing some of the meat to the poor.

“Today, after the ninth month, more than 37,000 martyrs, more than 87,000 wounded, and hundreds of thousands of homes were destroyed,” said Abdulhalim Abu Samra, a displaced Palestinian, after prayers in Khan Younis. “Our people live in difficult circumstances.”

In the nearby town of Deir al Balah in central Gaza, Muslims held their prayers in a school-turned-shelter, while some, including women and children, went to cemeteries to visit the graves of loved ones.

Palestinians also gathered at the al Aqsa compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, in Jerusalem’s Old City, the site of the Dome of the Rock shrine.

It comes against a the backdrop of the devastating Israel-Hamas war which has pushed the Middle East to the brink of a regional conflict.

The Israeli military has announced a “tactical pause” in its offensive in southern Gaza to allow the deliveries of more humanitarian aid.

The suspension, which begins as Muslims started marking the major holiday, came after discussions with the United Nations and international aid agencies, the military said.

Most countries marked Eid al Adha on Sunday, while others, like Indonesia, will celebrate it on Monday.

Cities including Beirut, in Lebanon, Mosul in Iraq and Istanbul, in Turkey crowded with worshippers.

In Egypt, balloons were released after prayer at a public park, outside El-Seddik Mosque in Cairo.

Muslims in Russia offered prayers at the Moscow Cathedral Mosque and gathered in Moskovsky central avenue during celebrations in St Petersburg.

Eighty countries called for Ukraine’s “territorial integrity” to be the basis of any peace deal on Sunday – but a number of nations did not join in.

World leaders including Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy and France’s Emmanuel Macron were among around 100 delegations at a two-day conference in Switzerland this weekend.

The summit was aimed at ending Russia’s war in Ukraine. Moscow was not invited, and its main ally China declined to attend.

Vladimir Putin is not ruling out talks with Ukraine, according to his spokesperson, who said guarantees would be needed to ensure the credibility of any negotiations.

It comes as Kremlin forces in Ukraine claim to have taken control of a village in Zaporizhzhia.

A joint communique from 80 countries said the UN Charter and “respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty… can and will serve as a basis for achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine”.

“The ongoing war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine continues to cause large-scale human suffering and destruction, and to create risks and crises with global repercussions,” the declaration said.

Participants India, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Thailand, Indonesia, Mexico and the United Arab Emirates were among those that did not sign up to the final document, which focused on issues of nuclear safety, food security and the exchange of prisoners.

Brazil, which has “observer” status, also did not sign. With China, Brazil has jointly sought to plot alternative routes toward peace.

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Ursula von der Leyen, chief of the European Commission, said this weekend has brought peace closer to Ukraine, but that peace will not be achieved in one step.

“It was not a peace negotiation because Putin is not serious about ending the war, he’s insisting on capitulation, he’s insisting on ceding Ukrainian territory – even territory that today is not occupied,” she said.

Analysts say the two-day conference is likely to have little concrete impact towards ending the war because the country leading and continuing it, Russia, was not invited.

Montenegro Prime Minister Milojko Spajic told the gathering on Sunday: “As a father of three, I’m deeply concerned by thousands of Ukrainian kids forcibly transferred to Russia or Russia-occupied territories of Ukraine.”

“We all at this table need to do more so that children of Ukraine are back in Ukraine,” he added.