Aloha Airlines Flight 243: explosive decompression

Synopsis

On 28^th April 1988, an Aloha Airlines' Boeing 737-200 aircraft flying from Hilo International Airport to Honolulu International Airport suffered an explosive decompression, resulting in roughly 1/3 of the aircraft losing its roof in-flight. The explosive decompression was caused by a weakening of the aircraft structure due to it being a high cycle aircraft, exceeding some 89,000 cycles (i.e. pressurisation cycles between take offs and landings). Also, maintenance failed to properly identify cracks in the fuselage. The aircraft was able to land safely on the Island of Maui just minutes after the decompression. All but one crew member survived. This incident had rippling effects throughout the airline industry, which has prompted several changes to improve aircraft safety in regards to fuselage inspection and maintenance.

Aviation crash video

Part 1 of 5

(Video embedded from YouTube on 27 April 2009 —see Cineflix, undated-a1)

Part 2 of 5

(Video embedded from YouTube on 27 April 2009 —see Cineflix, undated-b2)

Part 3 of 5

(Video embedded from YouTube on 27 April 2009 —see Cineflix, undated-c3)

Part 4 of 5

(Video embedded from YouTube on 27 April 2009 —see Cineflix, undated-d4)

Part 5 of 5

(Video embedded from YouTube on 27 April 2009 —see Cineflix, undated-e5)

References

1. CINEFLIX (undated-a). Hanging by a thread. Air crash investigations, undated. Part 1 retrieved from YouTube on 27 April 2009.

2. CINEFLIX (undated-b). Hanging by a thread. Air crash investigations, undated. Part 2 retrieved from YouTube on 27 April 2009.

3. CINEFLIX (undated-c). Hanging by a thread. Air crash investigations, undated. Part 3 retrieved from YouTube on 27 April 2009.

4. CINEFLIX (undated-d). Hanging by a thread. Air crash investigations, undated. Part 4 retrieved from YouTube on 27 April 2009.

5. CINEFLIX (undated-e). Hanging by a thread. Air crash investigations, undated. Part 5 retrieved from YouTube on 27 April 2009.

Want to know more?

AirDisaster.com - Aloha Airlines Flight 243

This site has tabulated information about the incident, as well as photos and a transcript of the cockpit voice recorder.

Wikipedia - Aloha Airlines Flight 243

The Wikipedia page "Aloha Airlines Flight 243" offers more detailed information about the occurrence.

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Contributors to this page

Authors / Editors

rudy737
JDPerezgonzalez