It was just another routine inter-island flight when an Aloha Airlines jet took off from Hilo, bound for Honolulu, on April 28, 1988. Cruising at 24,000 feet, an 18-foot section of the plane’s roof suddenly ripped off, causing an explosive decompression, creating a gaping hole in the fuselage and sucking a flight attendant out of the plane.
The Boeing 737 landed safely at Kahului Airport on Maui, but it goes down as one of the most significant events in aviation history.
Flight 243 departed from Hilo International Airport at 13:25 on April 28, 1988, with six crew members and 89 passengers on board, bound for Honolulu. Nothing unusual was noted during the pre-departure inspection of the aircraft, which had already completed three round-trip flights from Honolulu to Hilo, Maui, and Kauai earlier that day, all uneventful. Meteorological conditions were checked but there were no advisories for weather phenomena reported along the air route, per AIRMETs or SIGMETs.
After a routine takeoff and ascent, the aircraft had reached its normal flight altitude of 24,000 feet (7,300 m), when at around 13:48, about 23 nautical miles (43 km; 26 mi) south-southeast of Kahului on the island of Maui, a small section on the left side of the roof ruptured with a “whooshing” sound. The captain felt the aircraft roll to the left and right, and the controls went loose; the first officer noticed pieces of grey insulation floating above the cabin. The cockpit door had broken away and the captain could see “blue sky where the first-class ceiling had been.” The resulting explosive decompression had torn off a large section of the roof, consisting of the entire top half of the aircraft skin extending from just behind the cockpit to the fore-wing area, a length of about 18.5 feet (5.6 m).
There was one fatality: 58-year-old flight attendant Clarabelle Lansing, who was swept out of the airplane while standing near the fifth row seats; her body was never found. Lansing was a veteran flight attendant of 37 years at the time of the incident. Eight other people suffered serious injuries. All of the passengers had been seated and wearing their seat belts during the depressurization.
Co-pilot Tompkins was flying the aircraft when the incident occurred; Captain Schornstheimer took over and steered the aircraft toward the closest airport, on Maui island. Thirteen minutes later, the crew performed an emergency landing on Kahului Airport’s Runway 2. Upon landing, the aircraft’s emergency evacuation slides were deployed and passengers quickly evacuated from the aircraft. A total of 65 people were reported injured, eight of them with serious injuries. At the time, Maui had no plan in place for an emergency of this type. The injured were taken to the hospital in tour vans belonging to Akamai Tours (now defunct), driven by office personnel and mechanics, as the island only had two ambulances. Air traffic control radioed Akamai and requested as many of their 15-passenger vans as they could spare to go to the airport (three miles from their base) to transport the injured. Two of the Akamai drivers were former paramedics and established a triage on the runway. The aircraft was written off.
Aftermath
The aircraft was damaged beyond repair and was dismantled on site. Additional damage to the airplane included damaged and dented horizontal stabilizers, both of which had been struck by flying debris. Some of the metal debris had also struck the aircraft’s vertical stabilizer, causing slight damage. The leading edges of both wings and both engine cowlings had also sustained damage.
The piece of the fuselage blown off the aircraft was never found. Investigation by the United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) concluded that the accident was caused by metal fatigue exacerbated by crevice corrosion. The aircraft was 19 years old and operated in a coastal environment, with exposure to salt and humidity.
During an interview, passenger Gayle Yamamoto told investigators that she had noticed a crack in the fuselage upon boarding, but did not notify anyone.
The Boeing 737 landed safely at Kahului Airport on Maui, but it goes down as one of the most significant events in aviation history.
Flight 243 departed from Hilo International Airport at 13:25 on April 28, 1988, with six crew members and 89 passengers on board, bound for Honolulu. Nothing unusual was noted during the pre-departure inspection of the aircraft, which had already completed three round-trip flights from Honolulu to Hilo, Maui, and Kauai earlier that day, all uneventful. Meteorological conditions were checked but there were no advisories for weather phenomena reported along the air route, per AIRMETs or SIGMETs.
After a routine takeoff and ascent, the aircraft had reached its normal flight altitude of 24,000 feet (7,300 m), when at around 13:48, about 23 nautical miles (43 km; 26 mi) south-southeast of Kahului on the island of Maui, a small section on the left side of the roof ruptured with a “whooshing” sound. The captain felt the aircraft roll to the left and right, and the controls went loose; the first officer noticed pieces of grey insulation floating above the cabin. The cockpit door had broken away and the captain could see “blue sky where the first-class ceiling had been.” The resulting explosive decompression had torn off a large section of the roof, consisting of the entire top half of the aircraft skin extending from just behind the cockpit to the fore-wing area, a length of about 18.5 feet (5.6 m).
There was one fatality: 58-year-old flight attendant Clarabelle Lansing, who was swept out of the airplane while standing near the fifth row seats; her body was never found. Lansing was a veteran flight attendant of 37 years at the time of the incident. Eight other people suffered serious injuries. All of the passengers had been seated and wearing their seat belts during the depressurization.
Co-pilot Tompkins was flying the aircraft when the incident occurred; Captain Schornstheimer took over and steered the aircraft toward the closest airport, on Maui island. Thirteen minutes later, the crew performed an emergency landing on Kahului Airport’s Runway 2. Upon landing, the aircraft’s emergency evacuation slides were deployed and passengers quickly evacuated from the aircraft. A total of 65 people were reported injured, eight of them with serious injuries. At the time, Maui had no plan in place for an emergency of this type. The injured were taken to the hospital in tour vans belonging to Akamai Tours (now defunct), driven by office personnel and mechanics, as the island only had two ambulances. Air traffic control radioed Akamai and requested as many of their 15-passenger vans as they could spare to go to the airport (three miles from their base) to transport the injured. Two of the Akamai drivers were former paramedics and established a triage on the runway. The aircraft was written off.
Aftermath
The aircraft was damaged beyond repair and was dismantled on site. Additional damage to the airplane included damaged and dented horizontal stabilizers, both of which had been struck by flying debris. Some of the metal debris had also struck the aircraft’s vertical stabilizer, causing slight damage. The leading edges of both wings and both engine cowlings had also sustained damage.
The piece of the fuselage blown off the aircraft was never found. Investigation by the United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) concluded that the accident was caused by metal fatigue exacerbated by crevice corrosion. The aircraft was 19 years old and operated in a coastal environment, with exposure to salt and humidity.
During an interview, passenger Gayle Yamamoto told investigators that she had noticed a crack in the fuselage upon boarding, but did not notify anyone.
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| Investigators from the National Safety Board examine the fuselage of the damged 737 jetliner. Star Bulletin photo by Dean Sensui on May 1, 1988. |
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| George Flores observing some of the damage to the Boeing 737. He is a security guard for the Hawaii Protective Assoc. Star Bulletin photo by Dennis Oda on April 29, 1988. |
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| A large chink of aluuminum from the fuselage skin barely missed the air intake of the starboard turbing engine. It’s jammed on the slats (leading edge of the right wing.) Star Bulletin photo by Dean Sensui on May 1, 1988. |
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| This is the Boeing 737 that lost the forward upper half of its fuselage in-flight. Capt. Robert Schornstheimer and First officer Mimi Tompkins were able to maintain control of the aircraft and land it in Maui. Only one life was lost when a flight attendant was blown from the aircraft. Star Bulletin photo by Dennis Oda on April 27, 1988. |
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| Aloha was one of 14 airlines included in Boeing’s corrosion study last year. However, it’s not immediately known if this 19-year-old jetliner, which lost part of its roof April 28, was among the planes examined. Star Bulletin photo by Dean Sensui on May 1, 1988. |
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| The ferocity of the April 28 mid-air disaster involving this Aloha 737-200 is evident in the interior wreckage seen for the first time yesterday by reporters. A worker, above, inspects the front portion of the plane’s interior. Star Bulletin photo by Ken Miller. |
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| The ferocity of the April 28 mid-air disaster involving this Aloha 737-200 is evident in the interior wreckage seen for the first time yesterday by reporters. A worker, above, inspects the front portion of the plane's interior. Star Bulletin photo by Ken Miller. |
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| Uncertain if this person is from the NTSB. He’s examing the damage from a scaffolding set near the aircraft. Star Bulletin photo by Dean Sensui on May 1, 1988. |
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| This older Aloha Airlines Boeing 737 jet ripped apart in flight last April. Star Bulletin photo. |
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| This is the Boeing 737 that lost the forward upper half of its fuselage in-flight. Capt. Robert Schornstheimer and First officer Mimi Tompkins were able to maintain control of the aircraft and land it in Maui. Only one life was lost when a flight attendant was blown from the aircraft. Star Bulletin photo by Dennis Oda on April 29, 1988. |
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| Security Guards from the Hawaii Ptrotective Association stand vigil over the Aloha Airlines Boeing 737. Left to right is Parker Kaneakua, George Flores, and Gordon K. L. Wong. Star Bulletin photo by Dennis Oda on April 29, 1988. |
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| NTSB Joseph Nall talks to reporters. Star Bulletin photo by Dean Sensui on May 1, 1988. |
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| Star Bulletin photo by Ken Miller on July 28, 1988. |
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| This picture, taken by passenger Bob Nichols, shows parts of the jet hanging from the cabin's ceiling shortly after it was ripped apart in flight. Star Bulletin photo by Bob Nichols, Special to the Star-Bulletin. |
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| Star Bulletin photo by Dean Sensui on May 5, 1988. |
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| FEselage detail, showing lower stringers and possibly some damged floor spars. Star Bulletin photo by Dean Sensui on May 1, 1988. |
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| Star Bulletin photo by Dennis Oda. |
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| Star Bulletin photo. |
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| Star Bulletin photo by Ken Miller. |
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| Star Bulletin photo. |
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| Demolition crews tear apart the remains of Aloha's damaged jetliner and chop it into pieces to be shipped to smelters. Star Bulletin photo by Ken Miller. |
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| The rusting hulk of the Aloha Airlines jet sits on a tarmac at Kahului Airport. Star Bulletin photo by Ken Miller. |
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| Star Bulletin photo on April 29, 1988. |
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| NTSB officials confer near the airplane. Star Bulletin photo by Dean Sensui on May 1, 1988. |
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| Star Bulletin photo by Dean Sensui on May 1, 1988. |
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| Kahului, Hawaii, April 29 – Members of an airport rescue team work to extract trapped passengers aboard the Aloha Airlines jet which had its fuselage torn open in flight Thursday. Star Bulletin photo by Craig Nichols. |
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| Kahului, Hawaii, April 30 – Firemen wearing protective clothing help passengers down a chute from a damaged Aloha Airlines plane in Kahului, Hawaii Thursday. 1988 Slug: Jet Blast Hawaii Out. Star Bulletin photo by Robert Nichols. |
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| April 28, 1988, – Kahului, Maui – Paramedics aid passengers as they evacuate an Aloha Airlines jet that exploded while enroute from the Big Island. Star Bulletin photo by Matthew Thayer, The Maui News. |
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| Honolulu, May 23 – Aloha Crew Honored – Gov. John Waihee poses with the crew of Aloha Airlines’ ill-fated flight 243 of April 28. They were presented with letters of commendation. Star Bulletin photo. |
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| Kahului, Hawaii, April 30 – Airport Aid – A woman receives aid from fellow passengers at Kahului Airport after a heavily damaged Aloha Airlines plane mad an emergency landing Thursday. Slug: Jet Blast Hawaii Out. Star Bulletin photo taken by Robert Nichols on April 28, 1988. |
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| Aloha Airlines crewmembers help shaken passengers from the wrecked airplane after it landed at Kahului Airport on Maui. Star Bulletin photo taken by passenger Bob Nichols. |
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| Kahului , Hawaii, Apr. 29 – Ripped Jet – Medical teams tend to injured passengers as rescue teams removed trapped passengers from an Aloha Airlines jet torn open during a flight Thursday. Star Bulletin photo by Craig Nichols. |
so much for the overhead luggage.
ReplyDeleteNo pictures of the person who died..
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