An Amazon Prime Air Boeing 767 freighter has returned to Honolulu after declaring an emergency over the Pacific Ocean on Monday morning.
The aircraft, registered N379AZ, was operating Air Transport International flight 8C3369 to Ontario, California.
The cause of the emergency is currently unknown, and this remains a developing story.
Departure From Honolulu
According to Flightradar24, the 767 took off from Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, Honolulu at 03:32 local time.
That was around 40 minutes behind schedule. The freighter then climbed to 35,000 feet and headed northeast towards Southern California.
Earlier, N379AZ had arrived in Honolulu from Sacramento as flight 8C3349, landing at around midnight local time.
The return service is a regular overnight run on Amazon’s air cargo network. Typically, it covers the 2,260 nautical miles between Honolulu and Ontario in around five hours.
A Long Turn Back Towards Honolulu
For just over two hours, the flight appeared completely normal. However, at around 05:40 local time, the 767 reversed course roughly 980 nautical miles from Honolulu.
That equates to around 1,800 kilometres. At that point, the aircraft was still short of the halfway mark, meaning Honolulu was nearer than the US mainland.
The aircraft held 35,000 feet for most of the return leg. Notably, its transponder continued to show the normal assigned code during this time.
The freighter only began transmitting squawk 7700, the general emergency code, shortly after 07:00 local time.
By then, it was around 340 nautical miles from Honolulu. The code alerts every controller in the area that the aircraft needs priority handling.
Landing Back in Honolulu
The 767 began its descent at roughly 07:15 back into Honolulu. It then positioned west of the airport before turning east onto its final approach.
Flight data shows the aircraft touching down at around 08:13 local time, after four hours and 40 minutes in the air.
After landing, the freighter slowed to taxi speed while still squawking 7700.
There are no reports of injuries at this stage. Meanwhile, neither Amazon nor Air Transport International had commented publicly at the time of writing.
The Aircraft Involved
N379AZ is a Boeing 767-323ER(BDSF)(WL) with serial number 25200.
According to Planespotters, it first flew on 21 May 1992 and joined American Airlines as N373AA that June.
Winglets followed in August 2009, while the jet was still carrying passengers. American eventually retired the aircraft in 2017 and stored it at Roswell, New Mexico.
Cargo Aircraft Management then acquired the airframe in 2018 and sent it to Tel Aviv for freighter conversion.
Afterwards, it joined Air Transport International and took its current registration in July 2019.
Two General Electric CF6-80C2B6 engines power the aircraft, which is now 34 years old.
A Second Incident This Month
Today’s return to Honolulu is the second notable event for N379AZ this month.
On 8 October, the aircraft suffered a right engine failure shortly after departing Austin as flight 8C3339.
According to the Aviation Safety Network, the crew shut the engine down and returned to Austin.
Planespotters records that the jet landed safely and returned to service two days later.
There is currently no indication that the two events are connected.
The incident also comes six weeks after a 21 Air 767 operating for Amazon overran the runway at Miami, killing five people.
What Happens Next in Honolulu
Engineers in Honolulu will likely inspect the 767 before it flies again.
Until then, the cause of the emergency remains unconfirmed.
The Aviation Hub will update this story as more information becomes available.
This remains a developing story.
Continue to follow The Aviation Hub for more analysis and insight.
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