Aloha Flight 243
Aloha Flight 243
In the Aloha incident, Aloha Airlines flight 243 took off on a regularly scheduled flight departing Hilo and arriving in Honolulu airport. Aloha flight 243 was a Boeing 737 that had suffered from metal fatigue and flown well over the intended takeoff-landing hours. (Stoller, 2001) Flight 243 experienced an explosive decompression and structure failure at flight level 240. An 18 ft. long section of ceiling area of the fuselage from the forward passenger cabin had separated from the flight deck door to the front of the wing. The opening extended from the left side of the cabin floor level to the right side window level. A flight attendant who was standing in the aisle was ejected out of the aircraft. No passengers were killed and flight 243 made a successful emergency landing in Kahului, Hawaii. The metal fatigues on an older aircraft lead to regulatory changes. The airplane was determined damaged beyond repair.
Thursday, April 28, 1988 at (Airsafe, 2008) 0510 Captain Robert Schornstheimer completed pre departure duties in dispatch. The captain then proceeded to the airplane. At 0500 the copilot checked in to Aloha Airlines Operations facility. Filled out operation’s paperwork and completed a preflight inspection. The maintenance log was signed and with no discrepancies. The copilot then prepared flight deck for portion of preflight. In predawn darkness, the exterior visual inspection had also found nothing unusual. At 1100 a copilot change was scheduled. Flight crew visual exterior inspections between flights were not required by FAA. (Hawaii, 1997) Aloha flight 243 was an inter-island flight. The previous crew flew three round trip flights starting from Honolulu to Hilo, Maui and Kaual. All six flights reported uneventful. All airplane systems performed normal.
Onboard the Boeing 737-297 were two pilots, three flight attendants, one FAA traffic controller (in flight deck observer seat), and 89
In the Aloha incident, Aloha Airlines flight 243 took off on a regularly scheduled flight departing Hilo and arriving in Honolulu airport. Aloha flight 243 was a Boeing 737 that had suffered from metal fatigue and flown well over the intended takeoff-landing hours. (Stoller, 2001) Flight 243 experienced an explosive decompression and structure failure at flight level 240. An 18 ft. long section of ceiling area of the fuselage from the forward passenger cabin had separated from the flight deck door to the front of the wing. The opening extended from the left side of the cabin floor level to the right side window level. A flight attendant who was standing in the aisle was ejected out of the aircraft. No passengers were killed and flight 243 made a successful emergency landing in Kahului, Hawaii. The metal fatigues on an older aircraft lead to regulatory changes. The airplane was determined damaged beyond repair.
Thursday, April 28, 1988 at (Airsafe, 2008) 0510 Captain Robert Schornstheimer completed pre departure duties in dispatch. The captain then proceeded to the airplane. At 0500 the copilot checked in to Aloha Airlines Operations facility. Filled out operation’s paperwork and completed a preflight inspection. The maintenance log was signed and with no discrepancies. The copilot then prepared flight deck for portion of preflight. In predawn darkness, the exterior visual inspection had also found nothing unusual. At 1100 a copilot change was scheduled. Flight crew visual exterior inspections between flights were not required by FAA. (Hawaii, 1997) Aloha flight 243 was an inter-island flight. The previous crew flew three round trip flights starting from Honolulu to Hilo, Maui and Kaual. All six flights reported uneventful. All airplane systems performed normal.
Onboard the Boeing 737-297 were two pilots, three flight attendants, one FAA traffic controller (in flight deck observer seat), and 89