Aloha Airlines Flight 243: Surviving Against the Odds

Aloha Airlines Flight 243 experienced a catastrophic mid-air fuselage failure, yet managed to land safely, showcasing extraordinary survival and piloting skills.

ENGLISH LANGUAGES

12/28/202411 min read

Introduction
Hello, friends! On 28th April 1988, around 1 pm, in Hawaii, the Aloha Airlines flight 243 was about to take off. It was a beautiful day. A sunny day. And most of the passengers were there to enjoy their holidays. In case you don't know about Hawaii, it is a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean, and is a part of America. They are beautiful islands and their capital is Honolulu. This flight was actually traveling from Hilo to Honolulu. Hilo is the southernmost island of Hawaii. It wasn't a huge distance.

Pre-flight Conditions
It was a 35-minute flight. A routine flight. The Aloha Airlines is a local Hawaiian airline that connects the various islands. Because of the short distances, this specific plane had already flown 8 times since morning. It had gone on 3 different round trips. But this wasn't unusual. It's normal for such planes. Everything was going as it should. Passengers board, the doors were closed, and at exactly 1:25 PM, the flight took off. There was one unusual thing though. When one of the passengers was boarding the plane,

Warning Signs Ignored
before entering the door, she saw that the riveted sheets that make the body of the plane, one of those sheets had a little crack, but she didn't tell anyone about it thinking that it won't make a difference, since this was a reputable airline, and the plane used to fly regularly. Assuming that it was inspected regularly. And that someone would have noticed if there were any problems. She thought that it was inconsequential. But no one could have imagined how devastating this was going to be. Only after 10-15 minutes of the plane's take-off,

Mid-Air Catastrophe
the air hostesses brought in the trolleys and started serving drinks to the passengers. The seat belt sign wasn't turned off yet, because it is usually turned off only when the plane reaches cruising altitude. And for this plane, the cruising altitude was 24,000 feet. There were three air hostesses on the flight, serving drinks to the passengers. And just 20 minutes after the take-off, the flight reached its cruising altitude of 24,000 feet. And as soon as it reached this height, there was a big blast.

Explosion and Decompression
The passengers heard a loud bang and there was a sudden rapid decompression. People have trouble breathing. Things went flying all around. Total chaos and terrible confusion. No one could understand what was happening. Some passengers looked around and saw that the plane's roof and surrounding walls were missing. They could see the sky above them. What happened was that about 35 m² of the front of the plane's body had disintegrated and blown away. What usually happens is that the air is always pressurized in cabins in a plane.

Oxygen System Failure
So that we can breathe normally. Otherwise, at a height of 24,000 feet, the atmospheric pressure is very low, the air is so thin that we cannot breathe normally at that height. That is why airplanes have their own pressurization system which regulates the air by pumping it. If for some reason this system breaks down and the airplane keeps flying at the same altitude then in case of this emergency, those oxygen masks will drop down. You must have heard about this in the safety briefings, "In the event of loss of cabin pressure,

Panic and Communication Issues
oxygen masks will drop." These oxygen masks, typically contain an oxygen supply for about 15-20 minutes, during which time the pilot has to get the plane to descend to an altitude where people can breathe normally. At a height below 10,000 feet. Now, in our story, what happened in Flight 243 is that, the oxygen masks did drop, but the oxygen mask system was not working. Due to the plane's roof being blown away, the oxygen mask system was completely destroyed. People were concerned about hypoxia.

Efforts by Cabin Crew
The condition in which if your body does not get sufficient oxygen you can get unconscious and eventually, lose your life. Within seconds, people started feeling dizzy and confused. In such cases, it takes only 1-2 minutes to lose consciousness. Michelle Honda, an air hostess, was near Row 15 during the explosion. She tried contacting the cockpit through the intercom. But there was no response from the other side. The second air hostess, CB Lansing, was serving a drink to a passenger near Row 5.

Pilot's Emergency Response
When the roof of the plane blew apart, she went flying out of the plane. Their third colleague, Jane Sato, was near Row 2. She fell to the floor after being hit by a flying luggage. There was commotion all around. When Michelle didn't get any answer from the pilots, she went to each and every passenger to ask, if they knew how to fly a plane. This scared the passengers further. They were being asked to fly the plane. This made them wonder about the pilots. Without trained pilots, they were doomed to crash.

Pilot's Skillful Maneuver
She reached near the cockpit by crawling on the floor. There she saw her colleague Jane's head was bleeding. When she tried to look inside the cockpit, she couldn't see anything. The cockpit's view was completely blocked. There were only a few precious minutes after which all of them would lose consciousness and die. But apart from hypoxia, these passengers had to bear strong winds. Winds as fast as nearly 500 kmph speed were blowing at them. It was difficult to keep their eyes open. And the temperature was at -45°C at this height.

Survival Against Odds
Even if there was oxygen supply somehow, it wasn't possible to survive long in that cold. Because most of the passengers were wearing shorts and t-shirts. Hawaii is a tropical place where people go to see beaches and jungles. There is no snow here. So no passenger was prepared for this temperature. Michelle was the only air hostess in her senses. She kept trying to contact the pilots. "Can anyone hear me?" But there was no answer. Among all these dangers, the good news was that the pilots were actually alive.

Critical Aircraft Control
And not just alive, the pilots were in much better condition than the passengers. Their oxygen masks were thankfully working. 44-year-old Captain Robert Schomstheimer was in command. A highly experienced pilot working for Aloha Airlines for 11 years. With him was the 36-year-old First Officer, Mimi Tompkins. When the explosion happened, both of them felt the shock. And when they turned around to see, they saw that the plane's roof was missing as well as the cockpit door. There was debris all around,

Descent and Landing
but both of them immediately got to work. First of all, they wore their oxygen masks and considering the situation, they decide to go for an emergency descend. They flew the plane at the speed for 500 km per hour, and descended at a speed of 4,100 feet per minute. But the time constraint wasn't only for the descent of the plane. They had to face another problem, bigger than this. It was found that due to this incident, the nose of the plane, the front part in which they were sitting, was drooping down a bit, only by about 1 metre.

Obstacles and Challenges
The floor of the plane was the only thing holding the cockpit and cabin together. If they kept flying so for a long time, the two parts might break apart. Mimi Tompkins contacted Honolulu and informed them about their situation. They were told to land the plane in Maui instead of Honolulu, since it was closer. At 1:48 PM, she contacted Maui tower and informed them about the situation. It was about 3 minutes since the plane's roof had flown away. But thankfully, the plane was at 14,000 feet. At this height, it wasn't difficult for most passengers to breathe.

Approach and Landing Techniques
And since it had descended within 3 minutes, most people didn't lose their consciousness and at least the risk of hypoxia was over. Mimi Tompkins contacted Maui Airport and told them to keep all emergency services ready. Anything could happen. Firefighters and rescue vehicles were at standby on the runway. Everyone was waiting for this plane to land. A minute later, the plane had reached the height of 10,000 feet. When another problem arose. There was a 10,000-foot mountain in front of them. The Haleakala Summit.

Safe Landing Execution
This mountain was between the plane and Maui airport. Captain Roberts slowed down the plane. 210 knots, 200 knots, 170 knots. They keep slowing down. They fly it as slowly as possible. Any slower and it would be difficult to control the flight. Maintaining this speed of 170 knots, they navigate the plane between two islands. The plane evades the mountain and turned towards the airport. At this point, the passengers could understand the situation better. They finally realized that the plane was flown by a pilot;

Overcoming Mechanical Failures
not only was the pilot alive but he was flying the plane expertly. As the plane went towards the runway, Mimi Tompkins deployed the landing gear. There should be 3 sets of wheels, 2 on the rear and 1 on the front. The ones at the rear are called the main gear; the indicator showed that the main gear was successfully released. But the nose gear, the wheels at the front, weren't releasing properly. Now, technically speaking, it is possible to land without the front wheels, the nose gear. This is known as Belly Landing.

Pilot's Final Decisions
And it is done during emergency cases. But in this specific case, where the middle portion of the plane was so weak, and the roof was already missing. The pilots were afraid to attempt a belly landing because then the plane would crash definitely. And if something happened to the fuel tank there could even be a blast. "This airplane, and the condition it was in, because it didn't have a nose gear, because when the nose touch down on the runway, it would've broken the airplane apart, therefore, breaking probably the fuel tanks apart.

Passengers' Reactions
Which could lead to a very dramatic fire and explosion." But there was no other option there was nothing else they could do. The pilots decide to attempt landing like that. As soon as the runway was visible the passengers were holding on for the landing. Some started praying. Others were hugging the people around them. This could very well be the last time they saw each other. Most of the passengers were still terribly scared. All for a justified reason. As the plane descended, it had started moving side to side.

Handling Engine Failure
The pilots realized that their left engine had failed. They tried to manually restart the engine, but unfortunately, they couldn't restart it. By this time, the emergency services were prepared on the runway. Firefighters, ambulances, evacuation teams everyone was preparing for the worst situation. Trying to minimize the damage. If you want to minimize damage to yourself while browsing the internet, the sponsor of this blog, Nord VPN, will help you with that. Whenever you go on a website on the internet,

Sponsorship Message

your data is collected. It is then used to show targeted ads to you. And your digital profile is created. A good way to stop being tracked online, and to have some privacy, is using a VPN. Using Nord VPN, you can spoof your IP address, which makes it difficult to track you online. And your personal information remains secure. Apart from this, VPN is very useful while traveling. If some content is blocked in a country, and you need to bypass some country restrictions, you can do so easily using a VPN.

Safe Landing Achieved
If you're interested, use the link NordVPN.com/dhruv you will get a big discount on their 2-year plan. And 4 additional months for free. This is risk-free because Nord VPN offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. The link is NordVPN.com/dhruv. It's given in the description too. You can go check it out. Now, let's get back to our story. At 1:56 PM, the pilots informed the Maui Tower, that they will need all the equipment the airport had. Meanwhile, a person on the runway was tracking the plane with binoculars.

Passenger Injuries and Survival
That's when he spotted, that the nose gear was successfully released. The plane didn't need belly landing. They informed the pilots. One less thing for the pilots to worry about. Then, at 1:58 PM, exactly 13 minutes and 42 seconds after the explosion, Aloha Airlines Flight 243 touched down on the runway. Apart from using the brakes, the captains used the thrust reverser of the remaining engine. Gradually, the plane came to a halt safely. The emergency teams present on the runway breathed a sigh of relief.

Rescue and Immediate Aftermath
The passengers were deboarded from the plane through the emergency exit. The passengers applaud the captain and thanked him for saving their lives. Although most of them were safe, many of them were seriously injured. An 84-year-old female passenger who was sitting on seat 5A had a skull fracture and suffered the most injuries. The passenger sitting in 6A suffered a broken hand. The passengers in 4A and 4F were seriously injured.

Investigative Findings
Basically, most of the passengers in Rows 4 to 7 were seriously injured. Because the roof of this area had blown apart. And the passengers in Rows 8 to 21 were only minorly injured. Apart from this, there were 21 passengers who weren't injured at all. Air hostess Jane Sato remained unconscious she suffered only a concussion. Air hostess Michelle Honda was safe and after landing she counted the number of passengers to check whether any of them were missing. And it turned out that miraculously, everyone was safe and alive

Investigative Insights Continued
except for one. 58-year-old air hostess C.B. Lansing was the only one who passed away in this incident. Search teams tried to find her later, but unfortunately, her body couldn't be found. She disappeared into the depths of the sea forever. And the remaining 94 people were grateful to have survived. Was it mere luck that they survived? No. The credit goes to the technical equipment. I am talking about the seat belts. The biggest reason why so many people could survive. As I told you in the beginning,

Reasons for Survival

because this flight hadn't reached cruising altitude, the seatbelt sign was still on and people were wearing their seatbelts. Had the people sitting in Rows 4 to 8 hadn't worn their seatbelts, they too would have flown out of the plane. After this incident, as this news spread, the photos of this plane were published in newspapers globally. A miracle flight without a roof. After this, America's National Transportation Safety Board sent a team of investigators to investigate this incident. To find the cause of this incident.

Root Causes Discovered
The investigation team found that this plane had completed 89,680 flight cycles and 35,496 flight hours. The fuselage of this plane, the main body of the plane, was weakened due to fatigue and corrosion. Every time the plane was in the air, the metal sheets on it expanded due to the pressurized cabin. And when it was on the ground, the fuselage contracted. This constant cycle of expansion and contraction made it weak. This was a Boeing 737 plane whose fuselage is made of aluminum sheet metal panels

Technical Mechanisms and Shortcomings
arranged circumferentially in a frame. Each panel overlaps each other by 3 inches. And the overlapping area is called the Lap Joint. Because the thickness of these sheets was only 1 mm, Boeing developed a bonding process to allow the skin to absorb stress like a single unit. The company used a strong glue called Epoxy to join the different parts of the plane. When this glue dried, a strong bond developed to distribute the stress in all the plates and to prevent any cracks. Glue wasn't the only way to keep these sheets together.

Evolving Safety Standards

In addition to the strong bond of glue, there were three rows of rivets on every overlap. The overlapping parts of every sheet were riveted together so that the entire frame of the aeroplane could be secured. Boeing's first batch of 737 aeroplanes used this method to join the sheets. But later on, problems arose due to using this method. They found that when the moisture content in the air was high, the bonds became weaker. The epoxy glue started degrading and the metal started corroding. This meant that the stress on these sheets

Discoveries and Reactions
were borne by the rivets instead of the glue. Because of this problem, in 1972, Boeing decided to use a new method of attaching these sheets together. They started using Hot Bonding. It uses heat and pressure to attach two sheets together. Interestingly this hot bonding system was already being used since 1972. And the Aloha Airlines Flight 243 incident happened 16 years later. So, this airline was blamed for still using the old aeroplane. Boeing had issued a service bulletin in 1972 stating the issue with their planes and possible problems it may cause.

Post-Incident Regulations and Standards
In fact, in 1987, one year before this incident, Boeing issued an Alert Service Bulletin that their older planes should be inspected and repaired properly in case any airline was still using them. Apart from this, Boeing had a Safety Design stating that in case of a tear in the fuselage, it needed to be limited to a 10 inch by 10 inch square. They had placed Tear Straps at every 25 cm of the plane's body. So that even if any part of the plane's body tore, the tear wouldn't spread to the rest of the body.