Aloha Airlines, Flight 243, Boeing 737, Maui

The Aloha Airlines Flight 243 accident in Maui was a seminal commercial aviation event in the airframe (structures) field for several reasons:

• It reflected a basic lack of an airplane level awareness in the events leading up to this accident.
• There were very clear precursors and ample evidence prior to this accident that were not acted upon.
• There were paradigms in design and certification that just did not work.
• There were catastrophic unintended effects.

If it weren't for the expertise of the pilot and the crew landing the aircraft and the fact that the passengers were wearing their seat belts, the airplane and all its crew and passengers would have been lost.

The photo on the right shows the aircraft just after landing.

Let's take a look at a summary of the facts about this accident. Select Next to continue.