Federal investigators announced today that shortly after taking off from Maui in December, a United Airlines passenger plane dived within 748 feet of the ocean due to a miscommunication between the pilots.
In its final report, the National Transportation Safety Board said the crew failed to control the plane’s course, airspeed and heading after the captain and co-pilot were mixed up.
After a normal takeoff, the captain asked the copilot or copilot to reset the wing flaps, but the copilot heard “15” instead of “5,” according to the NTSB.
After taking off from Maui’s Kahului Airport, the Boeing 777 climbed to an altitude of over 2,200 feet before descending over 1,400 feet toward the Pacific Ocean. Both pilots told investigators they heard the plane’s ground proximity warning system call out, “Pull up, pull up.”
The pilots recovered and resumed the climb, according to reports, before continuing to San Francisco without incident.
The NTSB said no one was injured in the December 18 incident and United made some changes to its pilot training.
The Federal Aviation Administration, which regulates airlines, said earlier this year that a United Airlines pilot had reported the incident under its voluntary safety reporting program. The FAA said it had reviewed the incident and “taken appropriate steps”, and United Airlines said the pilot received additional training, though neither the FAA nor the airline provided further details.
The incident received little attention until the aviation publication The Air Current reported an analysis of data collected from the aircraft.
On the same day, a Hawaiian Airlines flight from Phoenix encountered severe turbulence as it approached Honolulu, injuring 36 people, 11 seriously. The National Weather Service had issued a thunderstorm and atmospheric instability advisory for the region.
