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Southwest Airlines Captain Broke Safety Rules Before 2013 New York Accident Pilot Grabbed Controls Shortly Before Plane Crash-Landed at La Guardia On July 22, 2013, a Southwest Airlines jet crash-landed at La Guardia Airport in New York City.  By ANDY PASZTOR A Southwest Airlines Co. jet crash-landed on a runway at New York City's La Guardia Airport in July 2013 after the captain unexpectedly pulled back engine power while the co-pilot was still flying the aircraft, according to federal investigators. Documents released by the National Transportation Safety Board at the end of October indicate the captain unilaterally put the engines essentially into idle at the wrong instant-causing the Boeing 737's nose to drop sharply-without warning as she placed her hand on the co-pilot's hand, which was still on the throttles, and moved them. Only seconds after that, with the plane barely 50 feet above the strip, did the captain take the required step to verbalize she was taking over flying responsibilities by telling the co-pilot: "I got it." NTSB documents indicate the captain violated company and industry safety standards, which require pilots to work as a team, and in all cases, they must declare their intentions before taking over controls or changing any flight-control settings. The captain, who was 49 years old at the time of the incident and had more than 7,500 hours behind the controls of a 737, was fired by the carrier about two months later. Her co-pilot, a former fighter pilot and flight instructor for the Air Force who had started flying for Southwest the year before, was retrained and has returned to flying status. Nine people sustained minor injuries in the crash landing. The safety board also revealed that about three years earlier, the captain was ordered to undergo remedial company training for her leadership style. According to interviews released by the safety board, the move was prompted by repeated complaints from first officers about her alleged overbearing attitude in the cockpit. After the training, she returned to her regular flying schedule. The accident seriously damaged the airplane and delayed traffic at the busy New York airport for hours. The captain disputed some of the co-pilot's assertions when she was interviewed by investigators, but the flight-data recorder and other information backed up his version of events. The co-pilot said "he never had a captain pull the throttles back on him" during an approach, according to the NTSB. The material released by the safety board last month doesn't officially determine the cause of the accident, and among other things, the final report is expected to examine Southwest's training and pilot-oversight programs. A spokeswoman for the carrier declined to comment, citing the continuing investigation. The co-pilot told investigators the captain suddenly pulled back thrust without a word and while his hands were still on the throttles-a move contrary to broadly accepted training and cockpit-safety rules. The co-pilot and other Southwest pilots interviewed by investigators said the jet, carrying 150 people from Nashville and approaching a relatively short and wet runway in stormy weather, should have climbed away from the strip for another approach. He also told investigators the captain's actions leading up to the accident-including setting the approach speed into the 737's flight computer on her own-indicated "she was very proactive" and "wanted to spin dials." Typically, the pilot flying asks the other to set such speeds in the computer.