#Southwest Airlines Engine Failure Social Media Coverage

On April 17, 2018 a domestic Southwest Airlines flight had to make an emergency landing due to an engine blow out. It resulted in one death and multiple other injuries. Southwest is on Twitter’s trending page today and the hashtag #Southwest is being used repeatedly.

A few passengers that survived took to social media to live-stream the flight, or post photos documenting their experience. The audio between the pilot and control center was also released to social media where social media users could hear the emergency unfold.

There appeared to be two opposing views on the incident from social media users. The majority praised the pilot, calling her a hero and championing the fact that she was a women and previously served in the navy. Many others expressed gratitude for the entire flight crew and airline as a organization.

Others blamed the airline as an organization and expressed they did not want to fly Southwest again in the near future.

While the organization formulated these two opposing public opinions on the incident, all were communications on social media through the hashtag #Southwest. This is just one example of the power of social media and how one hashtag can spread news, thoughts and opinions on a single event across the country.

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