Incident
Flight 811 took off from Honolulu International Airport bound for Auckland, New Zealand with 3 flight crew, 15 flight attendants, and 337 passengers at approximately 01:52 HST. Its flight crew consisted of Captain David Cronin, First Officer Al Slader, and Flight Engineer Randal Thomas.
During the climb, the crew made preparations to detour around thunderstorms along the aircraft's track; anticipating turbulence, the captain kept the seatbelt sign lit. After the plane had been flying for approximately 16 minutes, and was passing between 22,000 and 23,000 feet (6,700–7,000 m), a grinding noise was suddenly heard in the business-class section, followed by a loud thud which rattled the whole aircraft. One and a half seconds later, the forward cargo door blew out abruptly. The pressure differential caved in the main cabin floor above the door, causing ten seats (G and H of Rows 8 to 12), as well as an individual seated in 9F, to be ejected from the cabin, and leaving a gaping hole in the aircraft. Nine fatalities resulted (Seats 8G and 12G were unoccupied). A flight attendant in the Business Class cabin was almost pulled out of the airplane, and was seen by passengers and fellow crew members clinging to a seat leg; they were able to pull her to safety inside the cabin, although she was severely injured. Another flight attendant in the Business Class Cabin hung on to the steps leading to the upper deck, and was dangling from them when the decompression occurred. The pilots began an emergency descent to get the aircraft down into breathable air rapidly, while performing a 180-degree left turn to fly back to Honolulu. The decompression damaged components of the on-board emergency oxygen supply system, which was primarily located in the forward cargo sidewall area, just aft of the cargo door.
The debris ejected from the airplane during the explosive decompression caused severe damage to the Number 3 and 4 engines, causing visible fires in both. The crew did not get fire warnings from either of them, although Engine 3 was experiencing heavy vibration, no N1 reading, and a low EGT and EPR. This led the crew to deactivate Engine 3. At 02:10, an emergency was declared, and the crew began dumping fuel to get the airplane to an acceptable landing weight. Initially, they pushed the Number 4 engine slightly to help force the plane down faster; once they noticed that its N1 reading was almost zero and its EGT reading was high, and that it was emitting flames, they shut it down also. Some of the explosively ejected debris damaged the right wing's Leading Edge Devices, dented the horizontal stabilizer on that side, and even struck the tailfin.
During the descent, Captain Cronin ordered Flight Engineer Thomas to tell the flight attendants to prepare for an emergency landing, but Thomas was unable to contact them. He asked the captain for permission to go down to find out what was happening. Cronin agreed. Thomas saw severe damage immediately upon leaving the cockpit: the aircraft's skin was peeled off in some areas on the upper deck, revealing the frames and stringers. As he went down to the lower deck, the magnitude of the damage became obvious to him as he saw the gigantic hole in the side of the cabin. Thomas came back to the cockpit, visibly pale, and reported that a large section of fuselage aft of the Number 1 exit door was open. He concluded that it was probably a bomb, and that, considering the damage, it would be unwise to exceed 250 knots (460 km/h). The airplane's stall speed was around 240 knots (440 km/h), producing a narrow operating envelope.
As the airplane neared the airport, the landing gear was extended. The flaps were only partially deployed, as a result of damage sustained following the decompression. This resulted in a landing speed between 190–200 knots (350–370 km/h). Regardless, Captain Cronin was able to bring the airplane to a halt without going off the end of the runway. Fourteen minutes had elapsed since the emergency was declared. Evacuation was carried out, and all passengers and flight attendants were off in less than 45 seconds. Every flight attendant suffered some injury during the evacuation, however, ranging from scratches to a dislocated shoulder.
Read more about this topic: United Airlines Flight 811
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“What is character but the determination of incident? What is incident but the illustration of character?”
—Henry James (1843–1916)
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
““It is of the highest importance in the art of detection to be able to recognise out of a number of facts which are incidental and which are vital.... I would call your attention to the curious incident of the dog in the night-time.”
“The dog did nothing in the night-time.”
“That was the curious incident.””
—Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930)