A United Airlines flight from Hawaii’s Maui to San Francisco dropped to a level of 775 feet above the Pacific Ocean barely 21 seconds after take off, in an alarming incident in US aviation. A CNN report stated that the jet gained speed as it plunged 1,425 feet from 2,200 feet before resuming its climb out of Maui. According to FlightRadar24 data, the event occurred on December 18, 2022, when United Airlines Flight 777 took off from an island in Hawaii. Additionally, Maui was under flash flood, high surf, and gale warnings on the day of this incident.
‘You start counting your blessings’ — A recent United flight taking off from Hawaii suddenly dropped 1,400 ft and nearly hit the ocean. This father traveling home with his family described the frightening experience. pic.twitter.com/QCf8fw1y7b— NowThis (@nowthisnews) February 14, 2023
A video describing the incident was shared by Now This on Twitter. The video shows a visual representation of the sudden drop experienced by the flight along with testimonials and comments on the incident by a passenger and a retired flight captain.
The video was shared with a tweet that read, “‘You start counting your blessings’ — A recent United flight taking off from Hawaii suddenly dropped 1,400 ft and nearly hit the ocean. This father traveling home with his family described the frightening experience.”
In the video, Rod Williams, a passenger travelling with his family for a vacation, told CNN that it certainly felt like a roller coaster when the flight plummeted down and made him think if that moment was the last time that he was going to see his family. “Someone from the cockpit got on the intercom and said, ‘Alright, folks, you probably felt a couple G’s on that one, but everything’s gonna be OK. We’re gonna be alright’," Williams added.
The video also states that the crew went on to inform the concerned authorities about the incident upon landing and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) investigated the pilots who have a combined flight time of 25,000 hours. According to CNN, the FAA investigated the event but has not released the findings because “the confidentiality of this programme is vital to its success."
The pilots were reportedly given additional training after the incident which according to Les Abend, a retired captain from a major airline, indicated that something had occurred during the flight that could have been prevented by the pilots.
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