Miracle 1988 Flight: Plane Lands Safely After Roof Tore Open Mid-Air

In 1988, an Aloha Airlines airplane, Flight 243, that took flight in Hawaii would change the course of aircraft maintenance and inspection forever. The aerial disaster that happened with the Boeing 737, on its way to Honolulu remains a haunting memory for residents of the state, The Sun reported.

Thankfully due to the expert maneuvering of the captain, the accident ended with only one fatality, not before exposing careless monitoring and inspection of aircraft, endangering passengers and crew.

The airplane departed from Hilo International Airport for Honolulu on April 28, 1988, The Sun reported. It carried five crew members and 90 passengers. The takeoff was smooth with no problems, but 20 minutes into the flight, an explosion took place. The blast ripped apart a portion of the plane's ceiling releasing the cabin pressure.

Flight attendant, Clarabelle Lansing, 58, who was assisting the passengers got thrown off in the air. The passengers were horrified to see her fly into the sky. Authorities never found Lansing's body.

Passenger William Flanigan was one of the last people to see Lansing, History reported. "She was just handing my wife a drink," he said. "And then, whoosh! She was gone. Their hands just touched when it happened."

Passengers and crew members quickly got to work to resist the pull from the outside. People clung to each other and began dodging the debris in the cabin, in hopes that they could avoid being taken by the void. 

Crew member Michelle Honda got severely injured. She was struck by debris flying through the sky as she was helping in the cabin and immediately fell to the ground. Fellow crew member, Jane Sato-Tomita, got hit by parts of the wreckage and was lying in a pool of blood when Honda noticed her.

Honda thought that Sato-Tomita had died, The Sun reported. "She was just on the borderline of the hole. Her head was split open in the back. She was under debris," Honda shared about the sight in front of her eyes and recounted how hard it became for crew members to manage everything, including giving instructions to the passengers.

Captain Robert Schornstheimer, 44, focussed his efforts on controlling the damaged plane, and getting it to land in a safe place, The Sun reported. He and First Officer, Madeline Tompkins later explained how the controls had gotten loose, and they had to contend with a constant whooshing sound coming from the cabin, as they were trying to find a way to land. 

Even though a big chunk of the flight had blasted off, the rest of the aircraft remained intact, The Sun reported. Schornstheimer carefully steered the aircraft to make a descent to Maui.

As the plane was coming down, its engines gave up, yet it somehow managed to touch down at Kahului Airport without any further losses. 

The Captain and First Officer were praised for their presence of mind during the disaster, History reported.

"This is one of the most remarkable flying events in history. No airplane has ever landed with this amount of damage," Greg Feith, air crash investigator, said in an interview. "The only thing that was holding the forward section cockpit to the rest of the fuselage was the floor beams. Basically, they were hanging by a thread."

Medical assistance was immediately provided to the 65 people who got injured during the disaster, The Sun reported. Passengers suffered from electric shock burns, concussions, broken bones, and many similar injuries. 

An investigation was ordered by authorities to determine what caused the disaster, The Sun reported. Gayle Yamamoto, a passenger, gave testimony that he spotted a crack in the fuselage upon boarding, but did not inform anyone. 

The National Transportation Safety Board based on the testimony and other observations ruled that the accident happened because of the airline's maintenance program, The Sun reported. According to the authorities, the maintenance crew failed to inspect the aircraft thoroughly.

The Federal Aviation Administration, in response to the accident, came up with the National Aging Aircraft Research Program in 1991, to ensure high standards of inspection for high-use and high-cycle aircraft, The Sun reported.