In a horrific incident, a United Airlines flight plunged towards Pacific ocean for 21 seconds just after takeoff and came within 775 feet of sea level, CNN reported.
According to the data from FlightRadar24, the incident took place on December 18, 2022 when United Airlines Flight 1722 took off from Kahului Airport in Maui bound for San Francisco. Just after the takeoff, the flight descended as fast as 8,600 feet per minute. The plane lost over half of its its altitude as it dropped 1,425 feet from 2,200 feet before regaining its climb out of Kahului on the island of Maui, the report added.
The plane took off from Hawaii when thunderstorms and showers were rolling across the region. On that day, Maui was under flash flood warnings, high surf and gale warnings. However, the flight completed its journey and arrived San Francisco at 9:03 pm local time, NBC news reported.
Rod Williams, one of the passengers on board, told CNN that the plane seemed to be flying normally initially but suddenly climbed at “a concerning rate” for a few seconds. “It felt like you were climbing to the top of a roller coaster. It was at that point. There were a number of screams on the plane. Everybody knew that something was out of the ordinary, or at least that this was not normal.”
“When the plane started to nosedive, multiple screams are being let out, at that point. You’re trying your best to maintain your composure – there’s obviously kids on the flight – nobody really knows what’s going on, but at the same time, you’re concerned”, another passenger named Williams said.
United Airlines said that it conducted an investigation with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) after which the pilots received additional training. The pilots filed the appropriate safety report after landing in San Francisco, CBS News reported.
“United then closely coordinated with the FAA and ALPA on an investigation that ultimately resulted in the pilots receiving additional training,” the airline said, referring to the Air Line Pilots Association—a union representing most pilots.
The airline further said that the two pilots having approximately 25,000 hours of flying experience, fully cooperated with the investigation.
Speaking on the incident, FAA told CNN, “The United Airlines flight crew reported the incident to the FAA as part of a voluntary safety reporting program. The agency reviewed the incident and took appropriate action”.
