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In-flight emergency exposes alarming problem with key alert systems at Honolulu’s airport

Aircraft on runway at HNL at night during emergency landing

Honolulu, HAWAII — (HawaiiNewsNow) - When an aircraft has an emergency, seconds make a difference.

But Hawaii News Now has learned the system that simultaneously alerts first responders of an emergency at Honolulu’s airport has not worked in months and another alert system is not functioning properly.

That situation led to a delay in notifying responders following an in-flight emergency Saturday.

On Saturday night, an Atlas Air flight with 212 people on board had to turn around minutes after taking off from the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport. Cell phone video from inside the military charter flight showed flames shooting from one of the engines and emergency lights on in the cabin.

When an emergency like that happens, two notification systems are used to get rescue crews in place.

The primary crash network allows everyone on the federal level to be notified at one time, including the FAA tower, Hickam tower and airfield, the Joint Dispatch Center and Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting.

Because the system has been down, each agency has to be called one by one — using a landline.

Aviation expert Peter Forman said that alone is going to cause a delay.

And those wasted minutes “could be the difference between life and death so that’s really important.”

Read more at Hawaii News Now