5-Year-Old William Hines, a pre-kindergarten student at Campbell Early Learning Center in Arvada and an aviation enthusiast, discovered a flaw in Southwest Airlines training materials. William has been fascinated by airplanes from a very early age. According to his mother, Amber Hines, "He'd be doing tummy time and watching the wheels roll, understanding how the axles work, and even pulling his cars apart." William often visits Rocky Mountain Metro Airport (BJC), where he enjoys watching aircraft take off and land.
Thanks to a connection a teacher had with a Southwest Airlines pilot, William had the opportunity to learn about aeronautical charts and commercial aviation. The pilot also brought William a Southwest training manual. While examining the manual and depictions of the cockpit, William noticed something unusual: two terrain gauges looked different from each other. One display appeared significantly more zoomed in than the other. William stated that "They did not match at all"
Southwest later confirmed that the difference William identified was simply a matter of display perspectives and not an actual instrumentation error. Regardless, the story gained attention online and eventually reached Southwest Airlines' CEO, Bob Jordan, who invited William and his family to Dallas for a tour of the training facility.
William was thrilled. During the tour, he got to sit in a flight simulator and meet several team members—an experience he will never forget and one that further solidified his dream of becoming a pilot one day. A Southwest spokesperson told The Independent during an interview: "We were happy to help inspire his love of aviation and hope he keeps us in mind once his feet can reach the pedals."
