On April 28, 1988, Aloha Airlines Flight 243 took off from Hilo International Airport on the island of Hawaii. The flight was headed to Honolulu International Airport on the island of Oahu. There were 95 passengers and crew on board the Boeing 737-200 aircraft.
As the plane reached an altitude of 24,000 feet, a loud noise was heard and the cabin suddenly depressurized. Passengers and crew saw that a large section of the roof had been torn off, exposing the interior of the plane to the outside. Despite the chaos and panic, the pilots managed to maintain control of the aircraft and make an emergency landing at Kahului Airport on the island of Maui.
Miraculously, only one person on board, a flight attendant, was killed in the accident. Many of the passengers and crew suffered from injuries and exposure to the elements, but they were all able to survive thanks to the quick thinking and bravery of the pilots and the efforts of the emergency responders on the ground.
The incident was later determined to be caused by metal fatigue in the aircraft’s structure, which had gone undetected during previous inspections. The tragedy served as a wake-up call for the airline industry, leading to stricter regulations and more thorough inspections of planes to ensure the safety of passengers.
