On April 28, 1988, at 1346, a Boeing 737-200, N73711, operated by Aloha Airlines Inc., as flight 243, experienced an explosive decompression and structural failure at 24,000 feet, while en route from Hilo, to Honolulu, Hawaii. Approximately 18 feet of the cabin skin and structure aft of the cabin entrance door and above the passenger floorline separated from the airplane during flight. There were 89 passengers and 6 crewmembers on board. One flight attendant was swept overboard during the decompression and is presumed to have been fatally injured; 7 passengers and 1 flight attendant received serious injuries. The flightcrew performed an emergency descent and landing at Kahului Airport on the Island of Maui. The safety issues raised in the report include: the quality of air carrier maintenance programs and the FAA surveillance of those programs, the engineering airworthiness of the B-737 with particular emphasis on multiple site fatigue cracking of the fuselage lap joints.
Aircraft Accident Report: Aloha Airlines, Flight 243 Boeing 737-200, N73711, Near Maui, Hawaii, April 28, 1988
1989
266 pages
Report
No indication
English