Just over 35 years ago, the unthinkable happened, and what followed can only be described as a miracle. It was April 28, 1988, and a routine service for Aloha Airlines Flight 243 on a Boeing 737 from Hilo, Big Island, Hawaii. There were 89 passengers, two flight crew, and three flight attendants onboard. A passenger reportedly thought that they saw a crack in the fuselage near the aircraft door while boarding but did not mention this to the crew.

Service started

At 24.000ft, the passengers remained in their seats with seatbelts on for such a short flight, and the flight attendants started their service. The lead flight attendant, Clarabelle Lansing, was at row five of the aircraft serving drinks, Jane Sato-Tomita at row two, and Michelle Honda was working at row 15.

Suddenly, there was a catastrophic explosive decompression (loss of cabin altitude) that ripped off the left side of the fuselage. The force of the decompression continued to peel back the aircraft fuselage leaving the top half front of the aircraft exposed to the elements.

The aircraft involved in the Aloha Airlines Flight 243 incident, with the front part of its fuselage removed.
Photo: NTSB via Wikimedia Commons

What happened next

Clarabelle was sucked out of the aircraft, and despite a search, her body was never found. Jane was thrown into the economy cabin covered in debris and legs trapped by wires. She suffered lacerations on her head, and was bleeding and unconscious. Michelle felt pressure on her left shoulder and was thrown shoe-less to the floor. The aircraft was filled with swirling debris, the floor at the front had buckled, and the forces of the air pressure were incomprehensible.

Michelle crawled down the aisle, holding onto the base of the seats. She understood from her training that this was a decompression from the noise, smoke and flying debris. Michelle tried to contact the flight crew but to no avail as the interphone system was destroyed. She shouted to the passengers to put on their life jackets but was struggling with the noise.

The oxygen mask system was destroyed, and the flight crew had started an emergency descent. Michelle tried to calm the passengers and sometimes found herself faced upwards on her back in the cabin, holding on for dear life. She managed to reach Jane but could not free her from the wreckage.

Aloha Air flight 243 with fuselage ripped off
It was a miracle that the aircraft could even land with the given damage. Photo: NTSB via Wikimedia commons

Emergency descent

The passengers were injured by debris and covered in blood, and Michelle continued to work her way through the aircraft, trying to console them. She saw a passenger with a piece of debris embedded in his face but knew from her first aid training that this was to be left alone, and she could not help but only console. As the aircraft was coming down to land, she tried to shout her commands 'heads down,' but no voice was coming out. She held onto whatever she could, and to Jane with the passengers' help.

Aftermath

The aircraft landed safely at the airport in Maui. Michelle started the evacuation with the help of an off-duty flight attendant, Amy Jones-Brown, who was traveling as a passenger. All passengers survived, although some were severely injured. Jane suffered a concussion and major cuts to her head and was taken to hospital. It was only then that Michelle realized that Clarabelle was missing.

There is no doubt that she did everything she could in the circumstances to do her duty and try and look after the passengers. Even afterward, Michelle visited the hospital to see the passengers she'd gone through this disaster with. Definitely, here was a committed flight attendant who went beyond the call of duty.