The Aloha Airlines Accident — A New Era for Aging Aircraft

Abstract

This report concerns some of the factors relating to the Aloha Airlines accident which occurred on April 28, 1988, in the Hawaiian Islands. What is different about this occurrence is that in the past it has usually been the high fatality spectacular catastrophic accidents that have worked as the catalyst for change. High visibility aviation accidents with great loss of life would serve as the trigger for stampeding the government and industry into action. This phenomena is sometimes referred to as the “tombstone effect.” Examples of this premise are: (1) the Eastern Airlines flight 66, B-727 approach accident that occurred at the JFK International Airport on June 24, 1975, killing 113 passengers and crew. Although thunderstorm/down draft accidents, certainly, were not a new phenomena at that time, this accident because of the high visibility focused on it precipitated the first full scale efforts by the FAA and the industry to develop and implement windshear detection and training programs, and (2) the spectacular PSA mid-air collision accident over the city of San Diego on September 25, 1978, which claimed 144 lives. While, certainly, not the first mid-air collision accident, resulted in massive changes to the National Airspace and Air Traffic Control System including a new requirement for a network of terminal control areas which are still in place today.