A United Airlines Holdings Inc. flight suddenly dipped toward the ocean shortly after taking off from a Hawaii airport last December after pilots miscommunicated about a key setting for lift during its initial climb.
The jet’s captain had called for one setting on the plane’s flaps — panels that increase lift during takeoff and landing — but a copilot positioned them differently, creating a brief period of confusion that led to the abnormal descent, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a report released Thursday.
The Boeing Co. 777-200ER dropped from about 2,100 feet (640 meters) in altitude down to 748 feet before the jet recovered and began climbing again. During the descent, an audible cockpit alarm warning the crew to “pull up” was issued, the NTSB said.
United modified its pilot training and issued an awareness campaign after the Dec. 18 incident, the board said in the report. The jet continued its flight to San Francisco from Maui and no one was injured.
The pilots filed safety reports on the flight after landing, and the carrier coordinated with the US Federal Aviation Administration and the Air Line Pilots Association union in investigating the incident, United said earlier this year in a statement. The pilots, who have a combined 25,000 hours of flying experience, received additional training as a result, the airline said.
