The plane took a nose dive for 21 terrifying seconds.
- A United Airlines Boeing 777 plane taking off from Hawaii last December came within 775 feet of hitting the ocean less than two minutes after takeoff.
- Passengers on board told CNN it felt like a roller coaster and that there were screams on the plane.
- The investigation into the incident is ongoing.
About a minute after taking off from Maui, Hawaii on December 18, 2022, United Airlines flight 1722 lost 1,425 feet of altitude. The Boeing 777 came within just 775 feet of sea level before pilots were able to correct the dive, avoid plunging into the ocean, and restart the climb.
Using data from FlightRadar 24, The Air Current was the first to report on the horrifying United Airlines Boeing 777 dive weeks later. While no injuries were reported, CNN says that passengers knew something was amiss during the plunge, which would have spelled certain catastrophe if it lasted even seconds longer.
“It felt like you were climbing to the top of a roller coaster,” passenger Rod Williams II told CNN. “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.”
Data shows that over a minute into the takeoff from Kahului Airport in Hawaii, the Boeing 777 reached 2,200 feet above sea level. But then, in the span of just seconds, the airliner made a nose dive at 8,600 feet per minute, losing 1,425 feet and coming within 775 feet of sea level before the plane recovered, regained its climb, and had no other issues on route to an early arrival in San Francisco.
About 10 minutes following the nose dive, Williams says someone from the cockpit told passengers that everything was going to be okay.
But they didn’t say what happened. And neither United nor the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) are really saying much now, either.
The Air Current reports the nose dive was on the same day that 25 people were injured on a Hawaiian Airlines flight to Honolulu in the vicinity of Maui, and the National Weather Service says the day had heavy rainfalls that produced flash flood warnings.
Whether weather was a factor or not, the FAA says the incident is still under investigation. An initial investigation from United, the FAA, and the pilots’ union “ultimately resulted in the pilots receiving additional training.” Gee, thanks.
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