(New York) A Boeing 737 cargo plane operated by the company Transair was forced to make an emergency touchdown in the water off Honolulu overnight from Thursday to Friday after an engine problem, the engine said on Friday. United States Aviation Agency (FAA).
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The two pilots were picked up by the coast guard. According to local media reports, one of them is in critical condition and the other in serious condition.
The plane is apparently a 737 Classic that was manufactured at least 33 years ago, according to a source familiar with the matter, and not a 737 MAX, Boeing’s current flagship plane, which suffered two crashes in 2018 and 2019.
Coast Guard spokesman Matthew West told CNN that one of the pilots was rescued by a service helicopter and the other by a firefighter helicopter.
Both were taken to a hospital in Honolulu for treatment.
A boat had also been dispatched to the site.
According to the FAA, the pilots said they had an engine problem and were attempting to return to Honolulu when they were forced to land the aircraft at sea around 1:30 a.m. local time.
One of them, 58, is in intensive care in critical condition, reported Hawaii News Now, a local news site.
The second pilot, 50, is in serious condition with a head injury and multiple cuts.
The plane sank
According to the news site, the plane sank and the debris will be recovered.
This aircraft from the Transair company, which transports goods between the main Hawaiian islands, was to connect Honolulu, on the island of Oahu, and Kahului, on the island of Maui, according to data from the specialized site FlightAware.
Boeing “is aware of the information coming from Honolulu, Hawaii, and is monitoring the situation closely,” said a spokesperson for the manufacturer.
The company claims to be in contact with the United States National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB), the agency that investigates transportation accidents, and is in the process of gathering available information.
The FAA and the NTSB will each conduct their own investigation.
This incident is reminiscent of the emergency landing of an Airbus A320 on the Hudson, north of New York, in January 2009.
After the loss of his two reactors hit by a flight of wild geese and when the control tower advised him to land at a nearby airport, pilot Chesley Sullenberger decided to land on the river, saving the lives of the 155 passengers and crew.
The safety of Boeing aircraft is under close scrutiny following two crashes of its current flagship, the 737 MAX.
Launched in 2017, the aircraft suffered two close-knit accidents in 2018 and 2019, which left 346 dead, due in particular to a defect in the MCAS flight control software. He was grounded for twenty months before being cleared to fly in late 2020.
Boeing stock fell slightly on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday in a bull market, after the news of this new incident was announced.
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