Finkface

https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/18/us/ha...nce/index.html

At least 36 people on a Hawaiian Airlines flight were injured, with 20 taken to emergency rooms, after their plane encountered “severe turbulence” on a flight from Phoenix to Honolulu on Sunday, authorities said.

Eleven patients were in serious condition, Honolulu Emergency Medical Services said in a statement. Among those transported to the hospital was a 14-month-old child.

The patients’ injuries included a serious head injury, lacerations, bruising and loss of consciousness, Honolulu EMS said.

obscure2k

Among those injured were also crew members. Sad story. Appears that this was a full flight.

DLATL777

Im looking at flight radar on my phone doing the playback on this flight and something interesting happens at the 30 minute or so to go mark-right where they say this was reported. it looks like the plane drops nearly 500 feet, then back to 40k for a moment, then begins a descent. During this sudden drop, it appears the FPM decent rate was almost 2,000 feet per minute but it occurs VERY briefly. Could this actually be the incident?

One of the passengers reported "there were actually two “intense” drops of altitude — one so strong it sent her boyfriend’s metal water bottle flying up so hard it cracked the ceiling above them".

Tanic

There was a substantial line of convective activity north and east of the islands. HA spokesman stated that the seat belt sign was on.

mlbcard

Can a 2000 ft/min descent really be just from turbulence?

N830MH

Yeah! Some passengers didn’t wear fasten seatbelt on. FAA regulations say that all passengers must wear a fasten seat belt during a flight. It’s required.

Tanic

That does appear to be the incident. The Flightaware log shows a descent from FL400 to FL394 then climb to FL402. It's difficult to ascertain from radar if that is what actually occurred since the airplane's ADS-B was being interrogated by three different sites at Lihue, Kahului, and Kaneohe. The flight data recorder will be definitive.

Single_Flyer

I was flying into Hawaii at roughly the same time -- to the Big Island though (which is farther south) and on Alaska Airlines. We went through a storm and got hit by lightning (no issues; just a flash and what felt like a jolt of turbulence).

However, I have other family members that were on a later flight. Lots of flights were diverted to Kona from other Islands so they have been stuck waiting to deplane for the last 3 hours. It is a huge mess (and of course lots of people flying in for Christmas vacations).

zrs70

Not sure if related to weather, but AA flight 58 is (KOA-LAX) is diverting back to KOA now (at 8:44 Pacific time).

flyingfkb

And this kids is the reason why to always wear your seatbelt when seated. Even a loosen seatbelt probably would have prevented being smashed in the ceiling.

Cthunder86

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CmWAr...d=YTY2NzY3YTc=

Raymoland

2000 fpm is a normal descent rate. Not uncommon to descend at rates higher than this for most of a normal descent from altitude.

jimmc66

I was offended by statements made to TV news by COO Jon Snook, who said that "the airline was aware of the weather forecast and the unstable air and weather conditions, but had no warning the particular patch of air where the turbulence occurred was in any way dangerous". Huh?

Hawai'i, which seldom gets disruptive weather, had been warned for two days of this powerful cold front traversing the islands on the weekend. The kind of weather where in my experience the flight crew would have ordered an early seat belt sign and had the flight attendants belted-in as well. This is clearly sounding like primarily a pilot error.

Hawaiian residents all knew we were having exceptionally poor weather yesterday, and the radar pictures were clearly showing this to the pilots. It will be interesting to hear if there had been any pilot reports of CAT or wind shear available to these pilots.

Single_Flyer

I'm curious who took that. Seems odd that a passenger would be able to just wander around with their phone taking video while everyone else including flight attendants are buckled in. I'm guessing this must be either an airline employee or law enforcement.

This must be after they landed and everyone was told to remain seated while paramedics got on the plane and this was someone documenting the scene for insurance or eventual lawsuit?

BA850

Not to defend those who weren’t wearing their seatbelts, but US carriers in general would perhaps do well to emulate the seatbelt policies of their European counterparts, whereby the sign is illuminated only when strictly necessary and properly enforced by Flight Attendants.

As things stand, the tendency in the US is to flick on the sign for almost every little lump and bump and leave it on long after the turbulence subsides. It’s no wonder people ignore it and FAs don’t enforce it (after all, if the turbulence were dangerous rather than uncomfortable, they’d be told to strap in themselves).

Alas, the net result is that people ignore the sign when it actually matters. It’s a bit like the story of the boy who cried wolf.