HONOLULU - A United Airlines plane that departed Hawaii in December made a dramatic dive towards the ocean shortly after take-off and was just 240m away from hitting the water before regaining its climb, flight tracking data shows.
The nosedive lasted 21 seconds and occurred just about a minute after the plane had taken off.
Neither United Airlines nor the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) indicated anyone was injured, according to a report by CNN on Monday.
The incident involving Flight 1722 occurred on Dec 18 as the plane was leaving Kahului Airport on the island of Maui.
Data from FlightRadar24 showed that the Boeing 777 lost more than half its altitude.
The plane also gained speed as it dropped from 670m to 430m.
It came within 240m of sea level before eventually climbing steeply again and resuming normal flight.
The plane seemed to be flying normally at first, passenger Rod Williams II told CNN, before it started climbing 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,” said Mr Williams, who was with his wife and two children.
Everybody knew something was amiss and there were “multiple screams”, he added. He and his wife were sitting on either side of their children and “praying for a miracle, because we felt like this could be it”.
An announcement from the cockpit around 10 minutes later sought to assure everyone that everything was going to be fine, and flight attendants comforted some passengers.
Mr Williams said the rest of the flight was generally smooth, although there was a strong crosswind when they landed in San Francisco.
He said he was grateful for the pilots’ “amazing, amazing recovery efforts”, adding that they should be praised for that.
“You read about these things, but then when you get to experience it, it’s just, sobering, you know. I’m very thankful to be here today,” Mr Williams said.
The weather at the time of the incident remains unclear. However, the National Weather Service said Dec 18 had set a daily rainfall record at Kahului.
The incident, which is coming to light only now, was first reported by the website Air Current.
United Airlines said it had launched a probe with the FAA and the pilots union. The investigation “ultimately resulted in the pilots receiving additional training”.
The pilots have a combined 25,000 hours of flight time.
The airline said the probe is still ongoing.
