A man was in critical condition and another in serious condition after a 46-year-old Boeing 737-200 cargo plane they piloted made an emergency landing early Friday in waters off Kalaeloa.
The aircraft, operated for Transair by Rhoades Aviation, had just departed Daniel K. Inouye International Airport for Kahului when the plane experienced engine trouble and tried to return.
A 10-member team of the National Transportation Safety Board is expected to arrive in Honolulu to investigate.
Two pilots of Transair Flight 810 had reported engine trouble minutes after they took off. The pilots were attempting to come back to the airport when they were forced to make an emergency landing in the water, according to the Federal Aviation Administration and Honolulu Fire Department.
In audio recordings posted by LiveATC.net, one of the pilots alerted the airport traffic control tower that one engine cut out and that they were heading straight to the airport.
“We’re going to need the Fire Department,” the pilot said. “There’s a chance we’re going to lose the other engine, too. It’s running very hot. And speed is, we’re pretty low on speed. It doesn’t look good out here. You might want to let the Coast Guard know, as well.”
Shortly afterward a traffic controller issued a low-altitude alert to the cargo aircraft and asked the pilots, “Are you able to climb at all?” One of the pilots responded, “No, negative.”
The traffic controller informed them the U.S. Coast Guard was on its way and that the pilots were clear to land on any runway. She called out twice to the pilots a short time later. There was no response.
The Coast Guard received a report of a downed cargo plane in the water approximately 2 to 4 miles south of Kalaeloa at about 1:40 a.m. The agency deployed an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter, C-130 Hercules plane, 45 response boat medium and the Cutter Joseph Gerczak, according to spokesman Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew West.
The state Department of Transportation’s Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighting boat also responded, navigating through a debris field that spanned approximately 1.25 miles.
Honolulu Fire spokesman Capt. Malcolm Medrano said the Fire Department’s Air 3 helicopter assisted as the ARFF boat crew rescued one of the pilots, 50, from the water at 2:51 a.m.
He suffered a head injury and multiple lacerations. The rescue boat took him to the end of Lagoon Drive where he got off the boat on his own. Fire rescue crews cleaned fuel off the pilot before he was treated by Emergency Services crew. He was taken in serious condition to The Queen’s Medical Center.
At about 2:57 a.m. the Coast Guard rescued the other pilot, 58, who was holding onto the tail of the downed plane before the aircraft sank. The Dolphin helicopter hoisted him out of the ocean and airlifted him to Queen’s.
When the Coast Guard pilots arrived, they saw a man waving his hands standing on the tail of the plane, while the other was floating on a bed of cargo, Hawaii News Now reported.
But the tail disappeared in seconds, and they spotted the man struggling to stay afloat, so they pulled him out first. The critically injured pilot was so exhausted he couldn’t talk, but he was conscious, helicopter pilot Lt. Alex Mead said, adding, “A few more seconds and we’re not entirely sure where he may have been.”
In a statement by Transair, Chief Executive Officer Teimour Riahi said, “We are working with the Coast Guard, the FAA and NTSB to secure the scene and investigate the cause. Our most immediate concern is the care and recovery of our colleagues.”
Honolulu Department of Emergency Services Director Dr. James Ireland said, “Our hope from the department is that the two pilots make a speedy recovery.”
Transair, an interisland cargo company, has been operating in Hawaii since 1982. With a fleet of five Boeing 737 and five Bombardier SD3-60-300 aircraft, the company conducts daily cargo flights to Kauai, Maui, Kona and Hilo with extended service to Lanai and Molokai, according to its website.
The FAA’s database shows the plane involved in Friday’s crash was manufactured in 1975.
It is a much earlier version of the Boeing 737 than the Max, and one that U.S. airlines no longer use for passenger flights. There are fewer than 60 737-200s still flying worldwide, according to aviation data researcher Cirium.
The Boeing 737 first flew in the late 1960s and is the most popular airline plane still in production. Boeing has delivered more than 10,500 of them and has unfilled orders for about 4,000 more, almost all of those for the latest version of the plane, the 737 Max.
Over the years, about 200 737s have been destroyed in crashes, and several hundred others have been involved in less serious accidents and incidents, according to the Aviation Safety Network database.
“For a jet that has been in production for so long and is being used so extensively, 203 hull-loss accidents can be considered a very good safety record,” said Harro Ranter, who runs the database.
He said the plane’s accident rate improved dramatically from the first models to more recent ones that preceded the Max.
In a statement, Boeing said, “We are aware of the reports out of Honolulu, Hawaii and are closely monitoring the situation. We are in contact with the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and are working to gather more information.”
Pratt & Whitney, a division of Raytheon Technologies Corp, which supplied the JT8D engines used by the 737-200, said it was also in contact with safety officials, Bloomberg reported.
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The Associated Press and staff writer Leila Fujimori contributed to this report.
