One hour Stopover at Kahului (OGG)
Kahului Airport (IATA: OGG, ICAO: PHOG) is an airport in the state of Hawai'i, United States, located east of the Kahului in Maui County on the island of Maui near Haleakala. It has offered full airport operations since 1952. Most flights into Kahului Airport originate from Honolulu International Airport; the Honolulu–Kahului corridor is one of the busiest air routes in the US, ranking 13th in 2004 with 1,632,000 passengers. The airport code pays homage to aviation pioneer Bertram J. Hogg who worked for what is now Hawaiian Airlines flying aircraft ranging from eight-passenger Sikorsky S-38 amphibians to Douglas DC-3s and DC-9s into the late 1960s. The Kahului Airport terminal building has ticketing, USDA agricultural inspection, and baggage claim areas on the ground level. Eighteen jetways are available for enplaning or deplaning passengers (there are six gate hold areas designated A–F with three jetways each). Gates with odd numbers have jetway systems, while gates with even numbers are designated as emergency exits and have stairs that lead to the ramp below. Most of the gates were spaced to handle narrow-body aircraft like the Boeing 717 and Boeing 737 used on inter-island flights. In 1982–83 Kahului started receiving nonstop flights from the mainland United States; these now use wide-body aircraft like the Airbus A330, Boeing 767, and Boeing 777, along with the Airbus A321, Boeing 737-700, Boeing 737-800, Boeing 737-900, Boeing 757-200 and Boeing 757-300. The smaller aircraft used on inter-island flights fit at all gates, while the larger overseas airliners cannot.
The airport is going through expansion authorized by the Hawai'i State Legislature. A goal has been set to prepare Kahului Airport to eventually become a permanent international airport with service routes from Canada and Japan. Current flights from Canada use United States border preclearance facilities in Vancouver, Calgary or Edmonton.
Kahului Airport covers 1,391 acres (563 ha) at an elevation of 54 feet (16 m) above mean sea level. It has two asphalt runways: 2/20 is 6,995 × 150 feet (2,132 × 46 m) and 5/23 is 4,990 × 150 feet (1,521 × 46 m). It also has an asphalt helipad designated H1 measuring 125 × 125 feet (38 × 38 m). Most commercial flights use RWY 02.
Dramatic Accident at Kahului (Maui)
Aloha Airlines Flight 243
On April 28, 1988, Aloha Airlines Flight 243, a Boeing 737-200 interisland flight from Hilo Airport to Honolulu International Airport carrying 89 passengers and six crew members experienced rapid decompression when an 18-foot section of the fuselage roof and sides were torn from the aircraft. A flight attendant was sucked out of the aircraft and died. Several passengers sustained life-threatening injuries including massive head wounds. The aircraft declared an emergency and landed at Kahului Airport. Noise created by the rush of air rendered vocal communication useless, and the pilots had to use hand signals during landing.
Investigations of the disaster, headquartered at Honolulu International Airport, concluded that the accident was caused by metal fatigue. The disaster caused almost all major United States air carriers to retire their oldest aircraft models.