NTSB says ‘flight crew’s failure’ nearly crashed SFO-bound plane

On Dec. 18, 2022, United Airlines flight 1722, traveling to SFO from Maui, plunged to only 748 feet above the Pacific Ocean before climbing back up to the proper elevation. The aircraft returned to the proper altitude less than a minute after the nosedive and eventually landed uneventfully at SFO. 

United Airlines did not immediately report the incident to the NTSB because the plane was not damaged and no passengers, crew or other people were injured. On Feb. 14, almost two months after the incident — which had since been made public — the NTSB announced that it would conduct an investigation.

Because the organization began its investigation months later, the devices that record what the pilots say and what the plane does had already documented too much information from flights that followed the incident. This meant the NTSB had to rely heavily on flight crew statements and “other records,” according to the report. 

The ground controller originally advised the pilots of the poor weather conditions that day, which included heavy rain and winds, the report says. The captain in charge chose to take off on a specific setting for the plane’s flaps that would help the plane fly in that type of weather. After the plane experienced turbulence, the captain advised his first officer to reduce the flap setting to flap five, but the first officer misheard and thought the captain had said flap 15. This caused the plane to speed up and go down.

“The flight crew’s failure to manage the airplane’s vertical flight path, airspeed, and pitch attitude following a miscommunication about the captain’s desired flap setting during the initial climb” was listed as the probable cause of the incident, according to the report.

The Air Current, which first reported the story, has sources alleging that both pilots were new to flying a Boeing 777.

United Airlines is “drawing on the lessons learned from this flight to inform the training of all United pilots,” the airline told SFGATE in a statement. In a previous statement, the airline said that the pilots involved in the incident were required to undergo additional training.