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A Boeing 737 cargo plane with two people on board has crashed off the coast of Hawaii after experiencing engine trouble.
The aircraft was en route from Honolulu to the island of Maui, but went down in the water soon after taking off from Daniel K Inouye International Airport.
The Coast Guard rescued both pilots from the sea early on Friday morning.
One was found clinging to the plane's tail and airlifted to safety, Reuters news agency reports.
According to officials from the state's transport department, quoted by local outlet Hawaii News Now (HNN), he was airlifted to Queen's Medical Center and taken to intensive care in critical condition.
Rescuers brought the other pilot to shore by boat, HNN said. He is reportedly in a serious condition with a head injury.
Footage broadcast by NBC shows a man thought to be one of the pilots being taken away in a wheelchair. He appears to be conscious.
A Boeing statement reported by US media said they were in contact with authorities about the incident and are "closely monitoring the situation".
The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash.
Flight tracking website Flightradar24 tweeted that it was a 737-200 cargo aeroplane operated for the carrier Transair since 2014. It was built in 1975 and first delivered to Pacific Western Airlines.
Transair Flight 810 left Honolulu bound for Kahului at 01:33 local time (11:33 GMT), Flightradar 24 said, but turned back quickly afterwards, and crashed into the water after just minutes in the air.
According to its website, Transair has been in business since 1982 and is one of Hawaii's biggest air cargo operators. It has a fleet of five Boeing 737s, it said.
Good stuff about the crew
I'm no pilot, but a successful water-landing has to be a tricky ride indeed.
I'm no pilot, but a successful water-landing has to be a tricky ride indeed.
Probably lucky it had "water ski" low bypass engines under the wings rather than the "water scoops" of the later models.And at 1:30 AM in pitch darkness with a black ocean.
Hey, just been over to Blancolirio Channel (YouTube). Juan Browne's got the audio tapes and flight tracking profiles up, and it's sounding like a flustercluck. 0230, and one controller is working ALL the frequencies at KHNL as the freighters come and go, and barely keeping up. Emergency in progress and people are stepping all over each other on the radios. The 737 reports an engine out, but she misses the call first time. Crew is flying AWAY from the airport, running checklists, and drifting down in altitude. They report unable to maintain altitude, and remaining engine running hot and ask if there's a closer airport. She gives them a vector toward a closer airport, and they start the turn and splash. USCG is on the scene quickly and makes the snatch.
Glad they made it. As a recovered freight dog, I wonder about such things as cargo overload, engine maintenance, and FO experience levels. Good thing it wasn't Anchorage.
Hey, just been over to Blancolirio Channel (YouTube). Juan Browne's got the audio tapes and flight tracking profiles up, and it's sounding like a flustercluck. 0230, and one controller is working ALL the frequencies at KHNL as the freighters come and go, and barely keeping up. Emergency in progress and people are stepping all over each other on the radios. The 737 reports an engine out, but she misses the call first time. Crew is flying AWAY from the airport, running checklists, and drifting down in altitude. They report unable to maintain altitude, and remaining engine running hot and ask if there's a closer airport. She gives them a vector toward a closer airport, and they start the turn and splash. USCG is on the scene quickly and makes the snatch.
Glad they made it. As a recovered freight dog, I wonder about such things as cargo overload, engine maintenance, and FO experience levels. Good thing it wasn't Anchorage.
Probably lucky it had "water ski" low bypass engines under the wings rather than the "water scoops" of the later models.
Sully was skillful, lucky, and an experienced glider pilot, as well as operating in daylight. All the "best case" circumstances lined up that day to turn a potential disaster into a miracle. Not to be expected as a norm. He touched down in relatively smooth water at just the right angle of attack to turn the fancases of his engines into surfboards rather than water scoops, and with his sink rate briefly at its lowest possible value. The airline equivalent of flying a battle damaged fighter through an OK (Underline) pass to a perfect 3-wire trap on a trick-or-treat approach with hung ordnance on the racks.Such wide-fan engines weren't a problem for Captain "Sully" and crew on that A320 that went into the Hudson river in 2009
I stand admonished. Won't happen again, Sir.I love aviation gibberish!