All the details so far about Transair’s 737-200 emergency water landing

Shortly after departure on Friday morning, a Transair Boeing 737-200 freighter declared an emergency and successfully made an emergency water landing after the crew reported engine issues. At the time of the incident, the Transair aircraft was being operated by Rhoades Aviation Inc on a scheduled cargo flight from Honolulu for Maui in Hawaii

Transair flight T4810 departed from Honolulu’s Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL) at 1:33 in the morning and was scheduled to arrive at Kahului Airport (OGG), however, shortly after takeoff the two pilots on board reported a problem with the aircraft’s engines.

In a statement, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) stated that both pilots were rescued by the United States Coast Guard. The FAA added that “The pilots had reported engine trouble and were attempting to return to Honolulu when they were forced to land the aircraft in the water.”

According to a preliminary ATC recording which was retrieved and published Liveatc.net, one of the pilots told Air Traffic Control that they had lost their number one engine and added “we’re coming straight to the airport.” The pilot then said, “There’s a chance we’re going to lose the other engine, it’s running very hot.”

The crew indicated that they might have trouble returning to either Honolulu Airport as the 737-200 aircraft was having issues maintaining altitude and informed the Air Traffic Controller to “let the Coast Guard know.”

Shortly after, the Air Traffic Controller warned the flight crew that the stricken jet was losing altitude. ATC can be heard stating “Low altitude alert. Low altitude alert. Are you able to climb at all?” One of the pilots then responded saying “No. Negative,” moments before the flight lost radio contact with Air Traffic Control. The flight crew managed to ditch the aircraft in the Pacific approximately two nautical miles from Kalaeloa Airport, where the US Coast Guard is based.

Once informed of the situation the Coast Guard responded immediately and rescued two pilots from the incident site. In an email to The Associated Press, Lt. Commander Karin Evelyn for the United States Coast Guard said that one of the pilots was spotted clinging to the plane’s tail while the second pilot was found on top of some floating debris.

Both pilots were then airlifted to hospital with officials at Queen’s Medical Center stating that one of the pilots is in a critical condition, while the other pilot is also being treated in hospital for a head injury and multiple lacerations.

The aircraft involved in this incident was a 46-year old Boeing 737-200 registered N810TA and has been in service for approximately more than three decades. The aircraft was first delivered to Pacific Western Airlines in 1975 and has operated for a number of airlines before being acquired by Transair for cargo operations in 2014. The airline has 5 737-200 aircraft in its fleet ranging from 37 to 47 years old.

Aircraft manufacturer, Boeing said it was aware of the incident and stated that it was working closely with the FAA and National Transportation and Safety Bureau (NTSB). The NTSB stated that it has already opened an investigation into the incident and has deployed additional resources to the accident site.

The United States organisation responsible for investigating air accidents said it is “sending a total of 10 investigators for investigation of Friday’s crash of a Transair Boeing 737-200 cargo airplane in the waters off the island of Oahu near Honolulu.”

While an investigation is still ongoing, a preliminary report into the emergency accident is expected to be released by Saturday, July 17th, with the final report set to follow approximately within a year of the incident. The NTSB concluded by stating that it is in “the early stage of an investigation” and “does not state a cause but will only provide factual information when available.”

Source: https://aeronewsx.com/all-the-details-so-far-about-transairs-737-200-emergency-water-landing/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=all-the-details-so-far-about-transairs-737-200-emergency-water-landing