A United flight departing from Maui bound for San Francisco plummeted 1,400 feet, nearly slamming into the Pacific Ocean after takeoff in heavy rain. After a lengthy investigation, the NTSB determined that human error caused the sharp descent toward the ocean.
Passenger Rod Williams II recalled the distressing situation in an interview with CNN, saying, “It’s tense, you don’t really have a chance to speak or to conjure up words, you’re just kind of gripping the seat and praying under your breath,” he said. “I asked her later and sure enough … we were praying for a miracle, because we felt like this could be it.”
On the same day, an Airbus A330 operated by Hawaiian Airlines encountered strong turbulence en route to Honolulu.
American Airlines flight 106 heading to London nearly collided with Delta flight 1943 heading to Santo Domingo after taking a wrong turn, leading the airplane into an active runway. Excerpts from the flight audio can be heard telling the Delta plane to cancel takeoff.
Luckily, motion sensors and radars implemented by the FAA mitigated disaster and communicated the incursion before a life-threatening accident occurred.
A Southwest jet and a FedEx cargo plane evaded a crash on a runway at Austin's runway as the two planes were within 100 feet of each other.
According to Jennifer Homendy, the chair of the NTSB, unlike New York's largest airport, Austin does not have technology that can sensor danger in the skies.
“Air traffic controllers in Austin could see the FedEx plane coming in, but couldn’t actually see where the Southwest plane was in relation to the FedEx plane because the Southwest plane was on the ground,” Homendy said. “Had they had that technology … they would have been able to see both the FedEx flight and the Southwest flight.”
Although the dense fog may be a factor in the incident, the final report details an air traffic controller's bout of "expectational bias," assuming the Southwest plane would take off sooner.
Crisis was averted after a jetBlue plane took "evasive action" while landing to avoid a crash with a privately-owned Learjet. While the pilot of the Learjet correctly read back air traffic control's instructions, yet the aircraft still proceeded to begin its takeoff. According to a tracking service, the two planes came within 540 feet each other.
"The pilot of the JetBlue aircraft took evasive action and initiated a climb-out as the Learjet crossed the intersection," the FAA said in response.
A Cessa 560X plane and a Southwest Airlines jetliner suffered a runway incursion in San Diego last August. To avoid the Southwest plane waiting on the runway to take off, the Cessa 560X aircraft underwent a go-around.
