Today we are reporting two more incidents that occurred on recent Hawaii flights. If you’ve been on one of these flights, please let us know. We flew one of his routes (Dulles to Honolulu) in December. These two issues are reported by flight aware and by aviation herald.
Loss of cabin pressure on a flight from Maui to San Francisco.
The incident occurred last Friday, February 16, 2024, on flight UA1639. This happened on a Red Eye flight that departed from Maui at 11:33 p.m., when the 16-year-old Boeing 737-800 experienced a loss of cabin pressure. I was at 34,000 feet in the air.
Just over two hours after departure, the plane safely returned to Hawaii, this time arriving at Honolulu Airport. When the problem occurred, I got the following result:
1) Passenger oxygen masks have been deployed.
2) The airplane rapidly descended at a rate of approximately 3,000 feet per minute to a safe unpressurized flight altitude of 10,000 feet.
3) The destination was changed to Honolulu.
4) The remaining flights were canceled and passengers were accommodated in other ways.
5) The aircraft remained in Honolulu until Monday, February 19th, after which it returned to San Francisco on a special flight. The flight appeared to be operating normally and was at a typical flight altitude.
The loss of cabin pressure on UA1639 was a significant event.
The issue was quickly addressed by United Airlines flight crews to ensure the health of all passengers. Kudos to United Airlines.
Cabin depressurization or loss reduces oxygen available to passengers and crew. This can occur for a variety of reasons, including failure of the airplane’s pressurization system or damage to the aircraft structure.
Loss of cabin pressure creates potential risks such as hypoxia, barotrauma, and hypothermia. To prevent these problems, airlines may fly you at an altitude of just 10,000 feet until you reach your destination.
I recently heard from an airline pilot friend that planes have enough fuel to reach their destination while flying at low altitudes, but they burn significantly more fuel in doing so. that’s right.
Attack on the tail of a plane flying from Washington DC to Honolulu.
An accident also occurred on a United Airlines Boeing 767-400 that was operating Flight 345. This time it was a tail strike when departing from Dulles that also occurred last week. The accident prevented the 22-year-old from flying to Hawaii. The FAA confirmed the incident and said, “The aircraft encountered a tail strike during departure and returned to IAD.”
The plane’s tail hit the runway during takeoff. The crew still climbed to an altitude of 28,000 feet, but returned to Dulles about an hour after departure.
United Airlines was able to quickly replace the aircraft with another 767-400. In total, the plane was delayed for about six hours. After inspection, the aircraft that suffered the tail strike was returned to service later the same day.
In 2023, a software issue caused tail strikes on two Alaska Airlines flights to Hawaii. The airline then initiated a ground stop until the issue was resolved. The journey took only 22 minutes.
Airline tail strikes are rare occurrences.
Mild tail strikes may not be dangerous, but require a thorough inspection, as was the case with the United Airlines incident last week.
