Passengers experienced ‘hard jolt,’ then ‘free fall’ on turbulent flight. Investigators blame the pilots

Published 5:15 PM EST, Thu December 12, 2024

(CNN) — 

As they were coming in for a landing, a “plume” of bad weather suddenly appeared in front of Hawaiian Airlines pilots who hit severe turbulence just seconds later. Dozens of passengers were injured.  Passengers experienced a “hard jolt” and then a “free fall” sensation.

One passenger crawled back to their seat during the incident.

Phones, jackets and water bottles “floated” around passengers and “two hard hits” occurred during the incident. The details from the 2022 incident near Kahului, Hawaii, are described in a just-released National Transportation Safety Board final report which blames the pilots for flying over the plume instead of going around it.

Prior CNN reporting from the incident says 36 people were injured with 20 going to the hospital.

According to the NTSB’s final report, before Hawaiian Airlines flight 35, flying on an Airbus 330-299, departed Phoenix and headed for Honolulu, the captain was informed of “potential turbulence and embedded convective activity” over the Hawaiian Islands.

After a mostly uneventful flight, the pilots described a “plume” appearing vertically in front of the aircraft filled with 283 passengers.  

"It’s building fast,” one pilot said.

The crew called the lead flight attendant onboard, but within a few seconds, the airplane lurched. The lead flight attendant was never able to alert the other seven flight attendants.

" Flight attendants and passengers who were not restrained were thrown upward, impacting the ceiling or baggage compartments above them, and then downward onto the floor. A passenger who had left her seat to go to the lavatory reported that she felt the airplane shake; she then ‘flew’ face first into lavatory ceiling and was ‘thrown abruptly’ onto the floor,” the report says, noting the plane experienced vertical accelerations twice the force of gravity.

One flight attendant ended up with serious injuries, and three had minor injuries. A 14-month-old child was also among the passengers injured and later transported to the hospital.     

A Hawaiian Airlines flight approaches Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport at Keahole on the island of Hawaii on January 18, 2024. A 2022 incident of turbulence aboard a Hawaiian Airlines flight injured dozens.   Investigators said prior to this flight, there were only seven reports of minor turbulence in the area, but the agency also said the National Weather Service had forecast the potential for unstable atmosphere and flying conditions, meaning the flight crew was aware of what could occur along its route. 

By Alexandra Skores, CNN

 3 minute read

Published 5:15 PM EST, Thu December 12, 2024