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A United Airlines passenger plane taking off from Maui came to within 800 feet of crashing into the Pacific Ocean.
Flight tracking data has revealed that on December 18, a United Airlines 777 leaving Kahului Airport in Hawaii headed to San Francisco took a horrifying drive seconds after take off, as per Air Current.
The plane had taken off at around 2:49 pm local time and reached an altitude of 2,200 feet before it plunged within 775 feet of the Pacific Ocean.
The entire incident lasted for no more than 45 seconds.
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It landed safely in San Francisco at 9:03 pm local time.
Rod Williams II and his family were sitting near the back of the plane when the Boeing 777 almost descended into the water.
He told CNN he thought it was initially normal but then noticed the plane had dipped at a ‘concerning rate’ for a few seconds’.
“It felt like you were climbing to the top of a roller coaster. It was at that point,” Williams told the outlet.
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“There were a number of screams on the plane. Everybody knew that something was out of the ordinary, or at least that this was not normal.”
As the flight took the chilling nosedive, he says passengers who tried to remain calm began to panic.
Williams said: “You’re trying your best to maintain your composure – there’s obviously kids on the flight – nobody really knows what’s going on, but at the same time, you’re concerned. You don’t know if this is an issue, but it was certainly out of the ordinary.”
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Flight attendants began comforting passengers, and an announcement was made over the loudspeaker 10 minutes later.
According to Air Current, reports show that when the aircraft had taken off, there was heavy rain, with warnings for storms and flash flooding.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed that no one was injured.
They also confirmed that the United Airlines crew had informed the agency as part of a voluntary safety reporting program.
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A spokesperson said: “The agency reviewed the incident and took the appropriate action.”
A spokesperson for United Airlines added that the pilots, who had a combined 25,000 of total flying time, ‘fully cooperated with the investigation and their training program is ongoing’.
Topics: News, World News, Travel