Aloha Airlines Flight 243 Incident

Date: April 28, 1988 • Location: Kēōkea, United States

Aloha Airlines Flight 243 experienced explosive decompression while airborne between Hilo and Honolulu, Hawaii, with one fatality as a flight attendant was ejected from the aircraft.

Aloha Airlines Flight 243 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight flown by Aloha Airlines between Hilo and Honolulu in Hawaii. On April 28, 1988, the Boeing 737-200 airplane serving the flight suffered extensive damage after an explosive decompression in flight, caused by part of the fuselage breaking due to poor maintenance and metal fatigue. The plane was able to land safely at Kahului Airport on Maui. The one fatality, flight attendant Clarabelle "C.B." Lansing, was ejected from the airplane. Sixty-five passengers and crew were injured. The substantial damage inflicted by the decompression, the loss of one cabin crew member, and the safe landing of the aircraft established the accident as a significant event in the history of aviation, with far-reaching effects on aviation safety policies and procedures.