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The Plane That Broke in Half Mid-Flight and Still Landed Safely
The story of Aloha Airlines flight 243, en route to Kahului
At 1:25 pm on April 28th, 1988, a 19-year-old Boeing 737 belonging to Aloha Airlines left Hilo International Airport headed for Honolulu. On that day, the aircraft had already undertaken three short flights — from Honolulu to Hilo, Hilo to Maui, and Maui to Kauai — all of which were regular and uneventful.
The captain was experienced pilot Robert Schorns-Theimer, a 44-year-old who had 6,700 flight hours in the Boeing 737.
The first officer was Madeline Tompkins, a 36-year-old with over 3,500 hours in the very same 737 model. Early that morning, while still on the ground in Honolulu, First Officer Tompkins had completed the pre-flight inspection and announced that the plane was ready for its flight.
At 11 a.m., the plane left Honolulu and was headed to Maui, and then to Hilo. When the plane arrived, the pilots didn’t leave the cockpit or inspect the aircraft from outside — it was not a requirement and they didn’t have to do it.
Following its schedule, the plane started the last leg of its routine round trip at 1:25 p.m. There were 95 people on board — 89 passengers, 2 pilots, 3 flight attendants, and 1 FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) traffic controller who…
