Qualla: Aloha IslandAir Flight 1712

Aloha IslandAir Flight 1712: Introduction

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Federal Aviation Administration, Public domain. The sun set over Maui at 5:53 p.m. on October 28, 1989. Twenty-two minutes later, Aloha IslandAir Flight 1712 departed Kahului Airport for the short hop to Molokaʻi -- a flight expected to take twenty-five minutes across a channel the crew had crossed six times already that day. On board were eighteen passengers, including five members of the Molokaʻi High School girls' volleyball team, three boys' volleyball players, their head coach, and the school's athletic director. They were heading home. The wreck was found the next morning at 6:25 a.m., crumpled against a mountainside at 600 feet near Hālawa Valley on the eastern end of Molokaʻi. All twenty people aboard -- both crew members and every passenger -- were dead.

Image: Federal Aviation Administration | Public domain

Aloha IslandAir Flight 1712: A Routine Evening Turns Fatal

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Federal Aviation Administration, Public domain. Flight 1712 had originated at Hana Airport on Maui's remote eastern coast, stopped at Kahului, and was scheduled to continue to Molokaʻi Airport and then Honolulu. The aircraft was a de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 300, a rugged commuter workhorse powered by twin Pratt & Whi...

Image: Federal Aviation Administration | Public domain

Aloha IslandAir Flight 1712: Into the Mountains

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Federal Aviation Administration, Public domain. The channel between Maui and Molokaʻi is narrow, but the eastern end of Molokaʻi rises sharply from the sea. Hālawa Valley is flanked by cliffs and ridges that climb steeply from the coast, terrain that becomes invisible on a dark night with poor visibility. The NTSB investigatio...

Image: Federal Aviation Administration | Public domain

Aloha IslandAir Flight 1712: An Island in Mourning

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Federal Aviation Administration, Public domain. Molokaʻi is one of Hawaiʻi's smallest and most close-knit communities. The loss of twenty people -- including eight student athletes and school staff -- tore through the island. The crash was the deadliest inter-island aviation disaster in Hawaiian history. Five girls' volleyball...

Image: Federal Aviation Administration | Public domain

Aloha IslandAir Flight 1712: What Remains

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Federal Aviation Administration, Public domain. The NTSB attributed the crash to pilot error -- specifically, the captain's decision to continue VFR flight into conditions that required instrument procedures. Captain Pollard had risen quickly through the ranks at Aloha IslandAir, upgrading from first officer to captain just fi...

Image: Federal Aviation Administration | Public domain