Injuries Reported At Maui: American A321neo Hard Landing Unfolds

For the six people including five flight attendants injured on Saturday during a hard landing at Maui Kahului Airport, it was no way to start a Hawaii vacation. The event happened suddenly on American Airlines flight 271 at 2 pm this afternoon as it was arriving from Los Angeles. As confirmed by Hawaii DOT, the A321neo aircraft was met by emergency personnel at the gate. Maui police reported that those injured were all in stable condition. We don’t know if the wind speed of 14 miles per hour did or did not play a role.

FAA and American Airlines also confirmed that a landing issue had occurred.

No damage was reported to the aircraft or the runway at OGG. The plane has been removed from service pending a thorough inspection. You can watch the video below of another hard landing of this aircraft type to see the situation better.

The FAA said the plane “made a hard landing” at about 2 p.m. local time.

A321 hard landings – what’s the cause?

Airliner hard landings on any aircraft occur when an aircraft contacts the runway with a higher rate of descent than is desirable. While most landings are intended to be smooth and controlled, various things can contribute to hard landings.

Causes can include pilot error, misjudgment of altitude, speed, or rate of descent. Weather conditions, such as turbulence, crosswinds, or poor visibility, are also possible causes. Mechanical issues may also contribute. Also, wind shear can be a factor. Lastly, runway conditions, including unevenness or slipperiness, can play a role.

Some have suggested to us that A321neo aircraft may be more prone to hard landings than other aircraft, although that appears to be inconclusive We have personally never experienced that when flying A321neo countless times on Delta and Hawaiian.

Structural stress can result, and components, like landing gear and tires, can sustain damage. Passengers may experience discomfort, and injuries, usually minor, can occur, as happened today.

Hard landings are investigated to determine the cause and prevent other occurrences. Flight recorder data can also help.

Hard landings are considered to be relatively unusual, with safety measures designed to prevent and mitigate these. We noticed another hard landing happened last year at OGG on a different aircraft. One passenger on that plane said, “the crosswinds were so strong turning into Kahului that our 772 shook and dropped a few times, freaking out a bunch of kids – mine included. I’ve always noticed some [expected] turbulence, but this was the worst I’ve experienced here. 

United Airlines A321neo suffered an engine failure and emergency landing this week in Chicago.

This comes as if we didn’t already have enough Hawaii flight concerns with Alaska and United Max 9 planes just returned to the skies yesterday following the door plug blow-out earlier this month.

The A321 is also a popular aircraft used for Hawaii flights by American Airlines, Delta Airlines, and Hawaiian Airlines. But this week, it was United Airlines and their Airbus A321neo that had an engine failure, which raises concerns given the issues with the plane’s engine reliability.

Aviation Herald reported that the A321neo (N14503) was flying from Chicago to Las Vegas when it suffered a failure of its Pratt & Whitney PW1133 engine. The plane was on the ground for multiple days following the problem.

Pratt & Whitney’s ongoing A321neo engine troubles.

The engine in question is part of Pratt & Whitney’s GTF family. It’s been scrutinized due to powdered metal defects, leading to widespread groundings for inspections and repairs. This aircraft was of a newer variety and has been known to have issues, raising further concerns.

Hawaiian Airlines and their A321 planes have been the most impacted by the engine problems. That is because they represent such a large percentage of the airline’s entire fleet.