United Airlines passengers recall horror nosedive on Hawaii flight

Passengers of a United Airlines 777 described the horrifying moment. Photo / 123RF

Passengers have recalled the horror of a “roller coaster”- like flight which has been investigated by the US FAA.

A review of a ‘close call’ by a United Airways flight out of Hawaii has shown the plane came within 250 metres of impact with the ocean surface, when it went into an unexpected nose dive.

On December 18, just over a minute after takeoff from Kahului Airport the Boeing 777 went into a steep fall.

Passenger Rod Williams was on the service to San Francisco with his family when he felt the plane make an uncomfortable lurch.

“There were a number of screams on the plane. Everybody knew that something was out of the ordinary, or at least that this was not normal,” he told CNN.

Flight records show 71 seconds after takeoff the plane began descending at a rate of 43 metres per second.

Having climbed to an altitude of 670 metres, the plane went into a 10- second plunge.

The father, who was travelling with his wife, seven-year-old son and ten-year-old daughter, said he wanted to comfort his kids but was lost for words.

Instead he and his wife exchanged worried looks.

“We felt like this could be it…” he told CNN.

71 seconds after takeoff, the United Airways went into a 10 second nose dive. Photo / Flightradar 24

The nose dive eventually levelled out and the plane began to climb again. The passengers had no idea how far they had fallen.

“Someone from the cockpit got on the intercom and said, ‘All right, folks, you probably felt a couple G’s on that one, but everything’s gonna be OK. We’re gonna be alright,’” said Williams.

The incident was not publicised at the time, but was reported on as an historic ‘near miss’ on Monday by aviation site The Air Current.

United Airlines issued a response to US media saying that on arrival to San Francisco the carrier “reviewed the incident and took appropriate action.”

“United then closely co-ordinated with the FAA and ALPA (Air Line Pilots Association) on an investigation that ultimately resulted in the pilots receiving additional training. Safety remains our highest priority,” a spokesperson told USA Today.

The pilots, who had roughly 25,000 hours of flying experience, were a part of the investigation and agreed to additional training.

“The pilots fully cooperated with the investigation and their training is ongoing,”

A cause for the sudden and alarming descent was not issued.