NOTE: the picture of the woman with the red flower in her hair (below the actual photo of CB) is an actor to portrayed CB in a documentary in 1991. On April 28, 1988, the Boeing 737-200 serving the flight suffered extensive damage after an explosive decompression occurred in the cabin while en route from Hilo to Honolulu. "I tried to move her and drag her back, but I couldn't get her. Prior to the flight from Hilo to Honolulu, the Boeing 737-200 aircraft had undergone a normal walkaround pre-flight inspectionby the First Officer, who did not find anything unusual. She crawled to the rear and tried to call the pilots on the radio. Back in the 80s, these circumstances were not sufficiently regarded during the release of the AQ maintenance program and its approval by the FAA. HONOLULU, MAY 17 -- The blast knocked her shoes off. Ocurri una fatalidad, la azafata de 58 aos Clarabelle "CB" Lansing, quien fue arrastrada fuera del avin mientras estaba de pie cerca de los asientos de la quinta fila; Su cuerpo nunca fue encontrado. Saturday marks 30 years since that incident. Aloha Airlines Flight 243 (IATA: AQ243, ICAO: AAH243) was a scheduled Aloha Airlines flight between Hilo and Honolulu in Hawaii. To view a photo in more detail or edit captions for photos you added, click the photo to open the photo viewer. Year should not be greater than current year. The Hilo-to-Honolulu run usually carried a lot of local islanders -- Lansing knew them all -- and this trip was no different. It was later known that just before departure, damage to the aircraft was reported by a passenger who, at that moment, did not mention it to the crew. The FBI agents and the federal accident investigators have come and gone. The approximate location of the failure was found between the cabin door and the jet bridge hood. During the NTSB investigation, a passenger reported having seen a crack in the fuselage when boarding the flight, but did not say anything about it to the crew. "The passengers were reaching out and holding me as I went by and I grabbed their arms," she said. In Memory Of Clarabelle Lansing Aloha Flight 243. I was crawling and dragging. That much of Aloha Airlines Flight 243 Michelle Honda remembers clearly. Mt v n xy ra trong khoang hng nht khin trn my bay b x toc, cnh ca bin mt. I didn't know if I would have stayed in the aircraft if I let go, and I wasn't about to find out. The aircraft was repaired, re-registered as N4724U in 1989, and returned to service with United Airlines in 1990. 58-year-old flight attendant Clarabelle Lansing, who was swept out of the airplane while standing near the fifth row seats; her body . Aloha Airlines flew to many destinations including Pago Pago, Vancouver, Rarotonga, Kiritimati, Majuro, Midway, San Diego, Kailua, Oakland, Orange County, Phoenix and many others. Pilots and air traffic controllers say niner instead of nine to distinguish it from other numbers. "I grabbed her belt and her waist and held on to the metal retainer bars," Honda said. . [3]:2. She was very personable. . But Lansing, a 37-year veteran of the airline, was . . Clarabelle Lansing Introduction. A visual inspection of the fleet after the accident revealed problems with the exterior of almost every plane. The public hearing convened by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) two months . ". In 2019, Skyscanner estimated that flights would be cheapest in January and September and most expensive in June and December. C. B. Lansing Garden. Tradues em contexto de "sugando a fora" en portugus-francs da Reverso Context : Procura hospedeiros, sugando a fora vital deles. The only dead person, the chief FA Clarabelle Lansing, is considered a hero, since she blocked the "hole" of the fuselage for few seconds. 28th of April 1988 happened the terrible incident of Aloha flight 243. Aloha Airlines Flight 243 (IATA: AQ243, ICAO: AAH243) was a scheduled Aloha Airlines flight between Hilo and Honolulu in Hawaii. The Boeing 737-200 was damaged beyond repair and was dismantled on site. All 737s constructed after line number 291 included an additional outer layer of skin or doubler sheet at the lap joint of the fuselage. Meski 89 penumpang berhasil selamat, namun, satu dari lima kru, yaitu seorang pramugari bernama Clarabelle Ho Lansing tersedot keluar pesawat dan belum ditemukan sampai saat ini. If you have questions, please contact [emailprotected]. The green light did not come on, but neither did the red light. "It put a whole new perspective on the word 'sudden.' Before the incident, AQ used a maintenance program based on a D-check (heavy maintenance and inspection check) interval of 15,000 flight hours, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Maximum speed is 0.82 Mach (544 miles per hour/780 kilometers per hour) andtheservice ceiling is 35,000 feet (10,700 meters). When the airplane climbed to 24,000 feet, an explosive decompressiontook place. The additional outer layer construction improved the joint by: The NTSB investigation determined that the quality of inspection and maintenance programs was deficient. Meteorological conditions were checked, but no advisories for weather phenomena were reported along the air route, per AIRMETs or SIGMETs. Learn more about managing a memorial . You could ask her anything and shed answer your questions.. She was the only fatality. We weren't congregating. - wiki. Photos larger than 8Mb will be reduced. The 84-year-old woman who sat so quietly in the front of the coach section when the flight began had serious head wounds. Tag: Clarabelle "C.B." Ho Lansing Aloha Airlines Flight 243. When Aloha Airlines ceased operations in 2008 she went to Hawaiian Airlines. To use this feature, use a newer browser. CaptainSchornstheimerfelt that it was imperative to get the airliner ontheground, so there was no time to troubleshoot the landing gear. When did aloha airlines go out of business? The manual system was activated. The 737-200 is 100 feet, 2 inches (30.531 meters) long with a wingspan of 93 feet, 0 inches (28.346 meters) and overall height of 36 feet, 10 inches (11.227 meters). She was on duty when the incident occurred. Every type from fighters to helicopters from air forces around the globe, Classic Airliners As strong winds rushed through the cockpit, Schornstheimer looked behind him and caught a glimpse of blue . The Aloha Airline was operating eleven jets, all of them were Boeing 737s with flight cycles of 60000 or more. It was the fateful day when Aloha Airlines Flight 243 lost the upper half of its fuselage, mid-flight while carrying 89 passengers and six crew on the short 300km hop from Hilo on Hawaii's Big . . Passenger cabin shots showing seat arrangements as well as cargo aircraft interior, Cargo Aircraft Please check your email and click on the link to activate your account. Dalam kasus insiden Aloha Airlines flight 243, kapten pilot Robert L. Schornstheimer langsung mengambil alih pesawat dari tangan . "I thought to myself, 'Oh God,' and took out my little purple plastic bag," Honda said. I thought you might like to see a memorial for Clarabelle Leiming CB Ho Lansing I found on Findagrave.com. . All rights reserved. Search above to list available cemeteries. Pramugari Clarabelle Lansing , 58 , adalah satu-satunya korban tewas , ia terjatuh ke laut sambil berdiri di dekat kursi baris . Photos taken by airborne photographers of airborne aircraft, Special Paint Schemes But I realized the staples had stapled into the side of his face and his face was being pulled by the staples. An 18-foot section of the roof vanished in an instant and with it, flight attendant . GREAT NEWS! She called me by . Miracle Landing was considered an authentic and accurate portrayal of the Aloha Airlines Flight 243. That would put Sato-Tomita up front, Honda figures. The anomaly found by the initial investigation was a longitudinal fuselage crack, which, after checks, turned out to be a fissurein the upper row of rivets along the stringer S-10L lap joint. commons.wikimedia.org. Close this window, and upload the photo(s) again. As manager of this memorial you can add or update the memorial using the Edit button below. Clarabelle Lansing Aloha Airlines Flight 243 was a flight from the Hilo Islands to Honolulu carrying 95 people. And finally when she yelled, 'Heads down!' Aloha Airlines, even though it went out of busi- ness 13 years ago. CB Lansing was blown out of the plane when a front section of the plane's fuselage ripped off in a flight from Hilo, Hawaii to Honolulu, Hawaii. From her seat, Honda spotted Lansing in a mirror that flight attendants use to watch the cabin. Family members linked to this person will appear here. Looking after the 89 passengers that day was veteran Purser Clarabelle (CB) Lansing. "Because she adhered to the rules and regulations, I think it saved my life. Chief Flight Attendant Clarabelle Lansing was the only fatality on the Aloha Airlines Flight 243 disaster on April 28, 1988. A few oxygen masks popped out, but didn't work. KAHULUI, HAWAII, APRIL 29 -- Aloha Airlines flight attendant Clarabelle Lansing was in the first-class section of Flight 243, at 24,000 feet 20 minutes out of Hilo en route to Honolulu. And why were her feet tangled in the cables that came from the part of the ceiling that blew away? Aircraft flying government officials, Helicopters But Lansing, a 37-year veteran of the airline, was on board. The plane was able to land safely at Kahului Airport on Maui. The 19-year old . She was thrown out of the airplane and fell to the ocean, 24,000 feet (7,315 meters) below. The term heavy is used during radio transmissions between air traffic control and any aircraft which has been assigned a maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) rating of 136 tonnes (300,000 lb) or more. Clarabelle C. B. Lansing kollganjt, Michelle . Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate, or jump to a slide with the slide dots. . Fittingly, Hawaiian Airlines offers some of the best flights to Hawaii, providing daily service to Hawaii from more North American cities than any other airline. "C.B. . Its empty weight is 69,700 pounds (31,615 kilograms). I didn't realize she was unconscious . The next 13 minutes raced by in a blur. . I could see the ocean. Lansing, the senior flight attendant, vanished with the aluminum roof. Michelle Honda, Bob Schornsteimer and Madeline Tompkins all performed exceptionally and saved the lives of those on board--the passengers in particular all spoke highly of how Ms. Honda performed in calming them down and preparing them for the emergency landing. Part of the 737's roof exploded, killing one person, Clarabelle . Modifications: Colors adjusted. Debris pushed into her throat every time she yelled a command. HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - It was just another routine interisland flight when an Aloha Airlines jet took off from Hilo, bound for Honolulu, on April 28, 1988. One remains in critical condition, according to Dr. Charles Mitchell, director of emergency services. This flower has been reported and will not be visible while under review. . The jet safely at Kahului Airport 15 minutes later. Aloha Airlines Flight 243, en route from Hilo, Hawaii, . The safe landing of the aircraft with such a major loss of integrity was . In 1989, the flight crew received the Secretarys Award for Heroism for their actions. [3]:11 The first officer was 36-year-old Madeline "Mimi" Tompkins,[9] who also had significant experience flying the 737, having logged 3,500 of her total 8,000 flight hours in that particular Boeing model. A memorial garden was opened in 1995 to honor Lansing at Honolulu International Airport (HNL). To her death. Pictures of great freighter aircraft, Government Aircraft was a pretty by-the-book person," Honda said. It is featured in season 1, episode 2, of the TV show, This page was last edited on 16 February 2023, at 14:10. Clarabelle Lansing, was the sole fatality when she was blown out of the airplane, but 65 passengers and the rest of the crew were injured. Your account has been locked for 30 minutes due to too many failed sign in attempts. The C.B. Aloha Airlines was the first Hawaiian airline to become profitable. The blast hit Honda on the left shoulder. "I remember saying, 'Joy, my God, the guy is still flying this plane.' When the fuselage decompressed, Chief Flight Attendant Clarabelle Ho Lansing had been standing in the aisle at Row 5. Why did Aloha Flight 243 declare a Mayday at 24000 feet on a hop to Honolulu April 1988? We will review the memorials and decide if they should be merged. "I would take things to move them and then they were gone," she said. . Part of the roof of the 737 blew off resulting in the death of one person, Clarabelle Lansing, who was a flight attendant serving drinks. Yes, Aloha 243 is to me a perfect example of a well trained crew performing their jobs perfectly. Thirty-two years ago this past week, an Aloha Airlines flight, en route from Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii to Honolulu on Oahu was flying at at altitude of 24,000 feet when it experienced what the airline people refer to as an "explosive decompression". Friday, March 3. 28 April 1988: Aloha Airlines Flight 243, a Boeing 737-297 airliner, FAA registration N73711, . It was scrapped in place. Because when the portion of the plane's f. The NTSB concluded in its final report on the accident: The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the failure of the Aloha Airlines maintenance program to detect the presence of significant disbonding and fatigue damage, which ultimately led to the failure of the lap joint at S-10L and the separation of the fuselage upper lobe., Contributing to the accident were: the failure of Aloha Airlines management to supervise properly its maintenance force; the failure of the FAA to require Airworthiness Directive 87-21-08 inspection of all the lap joints proposed by Boeing Alert Service Bulletin SB 737-53A1039; and the lack of a complete terminating action (neither generated by Boeing nor required by the FAA) after the discovery of early production difficulties in the B-737 cold bond lap joint, which resulted in low bond durability, corrosion, and premature fatigue cracking., One board member dissented, arguing that the fatigue cracking was clearly the probable cause, but that the airlines maintenance should not be singled out because failures by the FAA, Boeing, and AQ maintenance each were contributing factors to the disaster. Thirteen persons, including Joy Flanigan were admitted to the hospital overnight, and seven were still there late today. Even more troubling are the gaps in her memory, the unexplained movements such as the appearance and equally sudden disappearance of a life raft in the aisle. Add a bio, trivia, and more. . Verify and try again. Remove advertising from a memorial by sponsoring it for just $5. On April 28, 1988, a Boeing 737-297 serving the flight suffered extensive damage after an explosive decompression in flight, but was able to land safely at Kahului Airport on Maui.There was one fatality, flight attendant Clarabelle "C.B." Lansing, who was ejected from the . Try again. The thrust reverser ofthenumber two engine was used to slow the airplane and when it rolled to a stop, the emergency evacuation was begun. Within 2 seconds, the vapor has warmed and evaporated back into the new, low pressure environment. On April 28, 1988, a Boeing 737-297 serving the flight suffered extensive damage after an explosive decompression in flight, caused by part of the fuselage breaking due to poor maintenance and metal fatigue. (e.g. Ive always heard/believed, not just in th aviation world, that its an old crutch to prevent the beginning of a received transmission from being missed by using a throwaway word like and or uhh to give the receiver something to break squelch before any actual info is transmitted. "I couldn't believe it," Flanigan said Friday at the Maui Beach Hotel, where he was recuperating and waiting for his wife to be released from Maui Memorial Hospital. Use Escape keyboard button or the Close button to close the carousel. Clarabelle "C.B." Lansing, ng hng gh s 5 thu gom ly ng nc t hnh khch. As per (National Transportation Safety Board, 1989, p. 12), at the time of accident, the jet N73711 has accumulated 35496 flight hours and 89680 flight cycles Karena lagi rame2nya kasus malaysia airline, berikut postingan berkaitan gan tapi endingnya lumayan bagus Aloha Airlines Penerbangan 243 (AQ 243, AAH 243) adalah penerbangan antara Hilo dan Honolulu di Hawaii. Flight Attendant Michelle Honda and many passengers were also injured by flying debris and the effects of decompression. The air at that. Are you adding a grave photo that will fulfill this request? Until that moment, Honda was mentally working through her emergency checklist and moving about almost by rote. On April 28, 1988, Aloha Airlines Flight 243 was a scheduled Aloha Airlines flight between Hilo and Honolulu in Hawaii. Moderators: richierich, ua900, PanAm_DC10, hOMSaR, Military Aircraft She had flown 8,000 hours, with 3,500 in the B-737. cemeteries found in will be saved to your photo volunteer list. La trompa est colgando de las vigas inferiores. Some Hawaiian words are known to non-Hawaiian speakers, and a few have also been assimilated into the English language (e.g. [3]:5, The incident aircraft was line number 152. UK Authorities Give Green Light to Korean Air Asiana Airlines Merger. [11], First Officer Tompkins was the pilot flying at the time of the incident; Captain Schornstheimer took over controls and performed an immediate emergency descent. Sadly, there was one fatality, Clarabelle Lansing. Your new password must contain one or more uppercase and lowercase letters, and one or more numbers or special characters. It was just another routine inter-island flight when an Aloha Airlines jet took off from Hilo, bound for Honolulu, on April 28, 1988. [3]:71, The NTSB concluded in its final report on the accident:[3]:7374. And with them comes the inevitable final question. No, she has not gone back to work yet. The sponsor of a memorial may add an additional. cemeteries found within kilometers of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list. [3], The aircraft was damaged beyond repair and was dismantled on site. In the Philippines, a Flight Attendants entry level salary ranges from P18,000 P26,000 per month and may even go up to P36,000 to P54,000 per month for those highly-trained and experienced. Weve updated the security on the site. Or purchase a subscription for unlimited access to real news you can count on. Sixty-one people were injured. Also, the fuselage failure initiated in the lap joint along S-10L;[7] the failure mechanism was a result of multiple-site fatigue cracking of the skin adjacent to rivet holes along the lap joint upper rivet row and tear strap disbond, which negated the fail-safe characteristics of the fuselage. An off-duty flight attendant, Amy Jones-Brown, struggled free from her seat and helped Honda evacuate the plane as Sato-Tomita, disoriented and bleeding, was taken to the hospital. We have set your language to Two huge ceiling panels landed on the heads of passengers, and Honda heaved them into the empty rows of seats in the back. Aloha Airlines was formed in 1946 and plied the inter-island routes of the Hawaiian archipelago until its demise in 2008. In Memory Of Clarabelle Lansing Aloha Flight 243. She was very attractive, a beautiful woman. Honda said. He turned toward the nearest airport,Kahalui Airport (OGG) on the island of Maui. Their hands just touched when it happened. Failed to report flower. Aloha Airlines also ventured into the mainland to Hawaii market without adequate preparation or resulting success. ", All the passengers were wearing their seatbelts. A Boeing 737-200 cargo plane with two pilots aboard made an emergency landing in the water off the coast of Hawaii on Friday morning. At the time oftheaccident, the airframe had accumulated 35,496 hours (TTAF) with 89,680 cycles. This was always the last flight of the day for the crew, and right after the drinks were served Honda usually took a little break. It also found that Aloha Airline's short flights meant that its planes should have received maintenance twice as often as they had. At that point, I figured from my first aid training to leave that kind of stuff in," she said. Our passengers loved her.. Thanks for using Find a Grave, if you have any feedback we would love to hear from you. "I thought it was going to fall apart before he could land it," Becklin said. Has a plane ever crashed Going to Hawaii? Sorry! The flight attendant with nearly 40 years of experience was ejected mid-air from the plane following explosive in-flight decompression. Theo nhng hnh khch thut li th Lansing b . The one fatality, flight attendant Clarabelle "C.B." Captain Schornstheimer remained with Aloha Airlines until he retired in 2005. In his later review, Sergio Ortega said: "Miracle . "[3]:2 The resulting explosive decompression had torn off a large section of the roof, consisting of the entire top half of the aircraft skin extending from just behind the cockpit to the fore-wing area,[10] a length of about 18.5 feet (5.6m). Mimi Tompkins also stayed with Aloha and rose totherank of captain. More than 60 of the 89 passengers aboard were also injured, eight of whom suffered serious injuries. This cold-bonded joint used an epoxy-impregnated woven scrim cloth to join the edges of .9mm thick (0.035in) skin panels. I grabbed her two arms and told her I loved her. "She was just handing my wife a drink," said William Flanigan, a 54-year-old aerospace engineer from St. Davids, Pa., who was on a 21st wedding anniversary trip to Hawaii. "Air Disaster victim. Some of the metal debris had also struck the aircraft's vertical stabilizer, causing slight damage. DALLAS On April 28, 1988, Aloha Airlines (AQ) flight 243 suffered an explosive decompression. Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. When delivered to Aloha, it was named King Kalaniopuu, after Kalanipuu, until it was leased to Air California/AirCal, after which the name was reassigned to N728AL. Two aircraft were scrapped as a result, along with the plane involved in the April 28 accident. (Its maximum certificated takeoff weight was 100,000 pounds (45,359 kilograms). A 37-year veteran of Aloha Airlines, Lansing was remembered by co-workers and passengers for her enduring aloha spirit and service to customers. Saturday marks 30 years since that deadly Aloha Airlines flight 243 accident that killed the 58-year-old flight attendant, Clarabelle Lansing, whose body was never found. The plane lost engine power and unsuccessfully tried to get back to land. Airliners.net is the leading community for discovering and sharing high-quality aviation photography. The fatalities were: Anthony and Barbara Fallon; Harry and Susan Craig; Lee Campbell, Dr. John Crawford, John Swan, Rose Harley and Mary Handley-Desso. This is a carousel with slides. Do Men Still Wear Button Holes At Weddings? I told him I couldn't help him. Clarabelle "C.B." Lansing, the senior flight attendant, vanished . While Boeings Maintenance Planning Document proposed a D-check a few weeks apart, AQ separated the check into 52 separate work packages. The safe landing at Maui established the incident as a significant event in the history of aviation, with far-reaching effects on aviation safety policies and procedures for years to come. Chuyn bay mang s hiu 243 ca hng Aloha Airlines khi hnh t Hilo ti Honolulu, Hawaii vo ngy 28/4/1988 gp s c nghim trng. . Before the plane broke apart as it crashed intthe water, one of the pilots told the tower: It doesnt look good out here.. This memorial has been copied to your clipboard. Only Sato-Tomita was not strapped in. [3]:1321. When the decompression occurred, Lansing was. The line was dead. Use the links under See more to quickly search for other people with the same last name in the same cemetery, city, county, etc. Aloha Airlines Flight 243 was a scheduled inter-island passenger flight operated by Aloha Airlines. Continuing with this request will add an alert to the cemetery page and any new volunteers will have the opportunity to fulfill your request. An email has been sent to the person who requested the photo informing them that you have fulfilled their request, There is an open photo request for this memorial. Clarabelle Lansing Was Sucked Out of a Plane On April 28, 1988, an Aloha Airlines flight to Honolulu suffered a swift and catastrophic failure. In Memory Of Clarabelle Lansing Aloha Flight 243, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarabell_Lansing, RE: In Memory Of Clarabelle Lansing Aloha Flight 243. Honda says that one of her greatest fears was that she would panic in an emergency. Boeing 737-297 N73711 was damaged beyond repair. Finally, the fatigue cracking initiated from the knife edge associated with the countersunk lap joint rivet holes; the knife edge concentrated stresses that were transferred through the rivets because of lap joint disbonding. Cruising at 24,000 feet, an 18-foot section of It felt like a strong push. "I told her, 'Mommy's got a mechanical and I'm not going to be home for a while,' " she said. They went well above and beyond what should be expected of them. So is the position of Lansing inside the plane at the time of the blast. For airplane line number 291 and before, cold bonding had been used, with fasteners used to maintain surface contact in the joint, allowing bonding adhesive to transfer load within the joint. KAHULUI, Hawaii (AP) _ Clarabelle Lansing, the Aloha Airlines flight attendant presumed dead after a jet blew open at 24,000 feet, was a 37-year employee who wore a tropical flower in her hair and appeared in ads for the airline. On April 28, 1988, Aloha Airlines flight 243 was on the way to Honolulu from Hilo when a huge portion of the upper part of the fuselage blew off the airplane. Best Time of Year to Visit Hawaii for Low Prices. 2022 - 2023 Times Mojo - All Rights Reserved In 1996 the Lansing Memorial Garden was inaugurated at Honolulu International Airport's Interisland Terminal. 12. Prior to the day of the incident, the Boeing 737-200 aircraft had accumulated 89,680 flight cycles and 35,496 flight hours. The flight crew did not make any visual inspections between its other three roundtrip flights because the airline did not require them. The debriefings are over now. Its registration was N73711[5]. This is Aloha Airlines' veteran flight attendant Clarabelle 'CB' Lansing. Most of the rest of Honda's recollections are fragments of scenes that have become more vivid, she says, with the passing of time. Her head was split open in the back. It's been 31 years since the Aloha Airlines flight 243 tragedy in the skies. . Upon landing, the aircraft's emergency evacuation slides were deployed and passengers quickly evacuated from the aircraft. If there had been, they would have had to have walked through a 30-foot stretch of open cabin to get to the cockpit. One passenger, Eric Becklin of Honolulu, an astronomer, was sitting three seats from the back of the aircraft when "all of a sudden, I heard a loud noise, a bang, but not an explosion, and felt a strong pressure change. But pilot Robert Schornstheimer, 42, a 12-year veteran with the airline, unable to know anything except that there was a tremendous loss of cabin pressure, was diving to 6,000 feet and fighting to keep Flight 243 airborne as he headed for an emergency landing, which he successfully made at Kahului Airport on Maui Thursday. This distance is only 350 kilometres. "One stewardess was walking up and down and telling people to fasten their safety belts. Fuselage examinations were scheduled during the night, which made carrying out an adequate inspection of the aircraft's outer skin more difficult. . From the start, Flight 243 couldn't have been more routine. Include gps location with grave photos where possible. First Officer Tompkins madethetakeoff at 1:25 p.m. and climbed in visual conditions to Flight Level 240 (24,000 feet/7,315 meters), reaching that altitude at about 1:48 p.m. As the airliner leveled at FL240, a portion of the fuselage tore loose and caused an explosive decompression of the aircraft. She was very personable. Aloha Airlines Flight 243, above, lost the top front part of its fuselage on April 28, 1988. Flight attendant Clarabelle Lansing died after part of the roof of the Boeing 737 blew off. Mrs. Lansing, 57, apparently was sucked out of an Aloha jet carrying 95 people Thursday after a third of the Boeing 737s fuselage tore away during a Hilo-to-Honolulu flight, officials said. Sign me up for Hawaii Travel News! Becoming a Find a Grave member is fast, easy and FREE. ", A gaping hole had opened the roof of the Boeing 737-200 jet with an explosive sound as pressurized air in the cabin blasted into the atmosphere, apparently pulling Lansing, 55, to her death, and exposing the aircraft and 94 others aboard to a tornado of wind that quickly peeled back the top of the cabin from the cockpit to the wing, one witness said, "like a banana.". The Boeing 737 landed on Runaway 02 at Kahalui Airportat 13:58:45, just over ten minutes since the emergency began. A National Transportation and Safety Board investigation later revealed that the incident may have been caused by the plane's old age and poor maintenance. The flight deck door blew away and Captain Schornstheimercould see blue sky where the first-class ceiling had been. The captain took the controls, deployed the speed brakes and began an immediate descent at 280290 knots (322334 miles per hour/519537 kilometers per hour), with a rate of descent as high as 4,100 feet per minute (20.83 meters per second). Clarabelle Lansing, was sucked out of the plane through a hole .