Miracle in the sky: US plane makes safe landing after losing its roof mid-flight

The incident occurred on April 28, 1988, over Hawaii in the United States

One of the most spectacular and shocking event in aviation history is the story of how Aloha Airlines Flight 243 managed to land safely in spite of losing a portion of its roof mid-flight.

The incident occurred on April 28, 1988, over Hawaii in the United States.

A huge section of the roof of an Aloha Airlines jet, carrying 89 passengers and six crew tore loose and peeled off mid-flight. What resulted after that was pure horror and a moment that transformed the aviation industry forever, according to indiatimes.com

According to Washington Post, the twin-engine, 110-seat Boeing 737-200 aircraft abruptly lost cabin pressure midway through its 40-minute flight. The Boeing 737’s ceiling was ripped off, and a large portion of its fuselage followed, leaving passengers vulnerable to the strong winds over the Pacific Ocean at a height of 24,000 feet.

Flight attendant Clarabelle Lansing was tragically sucked through the opening, while passengers and crew faced the horrifying belief that the plane might disintegrate before landingm, reported indiatimes.com.

The violent rush of air sadly caused flight attendant Clarabelle Lansing to be swept from the aircraft. Her body is still yet to be found. She was the only fatality, with all passengers seated and belted at the time, reported indiatimes.com.

It was critical to get the aircraft back to the ground as soon as possible after this unexpected and dramatic turn of events. The plane was forced to divert to the adjacent Kahului Airport on the island of Maui as a result. The pilots had to deal with an engine failure during the pretty dramatic fall. Moreover, they were unable to determine if the landing gear was down.

13 minutes after the initial decompression, the airplane safely landed down despite these difficulties.

Then, 65 of its inhabitants suffered injuries while they were evacuated by slides.

Since there were only two ambulances and no facilities at the airport for such emergencies, about eight of the passengers had serious injuries. As a result, Akamai Tours’ vans were used to transport the passengers to the hospital.

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