T pilot. 18 flight from Phoenix to Honolulu said conditions had smoothed. Out when a smoke plume appeared in front of an Airbus A330.
A pilot on a Hawaiian Airlines flight said an icy cloud “shot” in front of the plane moments. Before severe turbulence that injured more than two dozen people. And damaged the plane last month, federal officials said Friday.
A captain on the Dec. 18 flight from Phoenix to. Honolulu said conditions were smooth and no turbulence was detected. On board’s weather radar. They flew over a layer of cirrostratus clouds at an altitude of 37,000 to 38,000 feet. The National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report on the incident.
Just after 10 a.m., when the flight was within 40 minutes of landing. A “cloud rose vertically (like smoke ice) in front of the plane within seconds. And there was not enough time to deflect,” the report said. . .
The pilot told the lead flight attendant. About the incoming weather and between 1 and 3 seconds, the plane. An Airbus A330 – plowed into what the report described. As “severe sensory induced turbulence”.
A next review of satellite images by the report’s authors showed. Strong cells associated with a storm system moving toward Hawaii. That were close to the flight path.
No other pilot had reported severe weather in the area before the incident, the report said.
Twenty-five of the 291 passengers and crew on board the Hawaiian. Airlines flight suffered cuts, bruises, nausea. And head injuries, officials said at the time.
According to the report, six of the injured are serious. Reports described the damage to the plane as minor.