Plane almost nosedived into ocean right after takeoff, flight data says

HONOLULU (KHNL/Gray News) - A plane leaving an airport in Hawaii nearly nose-dived into the ocean shortly after takeoff, according to newly-released flight data.

The incident involving a San Francisco-bound United Airlines flight happened in mid-December of last year.

KHNL reports several industry websites said United Flight 1722 plunged toward the ocean moments after taking off from the Kahului Airport on Dec. 18. The data showed the plane came to within 800 feet of impacting the ocean.

Aviation website The Air Current looked at publicly available information to determine the aircraft climbed to 2,200 feet before it suddenly dived at a terrifying descent rate of nearly 8,600 feet per minute.

The pilots had to pull up, leading to a climb with forces more than 2.7 times the force of gravity, which means the passengers certainly felt it.

“We took off at a normal rate of climb,” said passenger Rod Williams. “And then all of a sudden, the nose pitched up to pretty dramatically for maybe three to five seconds. And at that point, there were a number of screams that were let out because it was an unusual climb ... followed by a very dramatic descent.”

Fortunately, the plane was able to recover and climb back up to cruising altitude and continue on to California.

The airline reportedly said they did not automatically inform the NTSB and FAA because the aircraft was not damaged and no one on the plane was injured.

Officials said it’s still unclear what caused the plane to dive.

According to KHNL, the flight crew reported the close call to the FAA as part of a voluntary safety reporting program. The FAA subsequently reviewed the incident and said it took appropriate action.

United Airlines said the pilots got additional training after the incident. That training is ongoing.

Copyright 2023 KHNL/KGMB via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.