Passengers on a packed Boeing 777 headed home from Honolulu were watching movies and standing in the aisles when the floor dropped out from under them.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed it will investigate the turbulence encounter that injured four flight attendants aboard United Airlines Flight 1157, which fell sharply during its descent into Los Angeles on the night of Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026, carrying 190 passengers and 10 crew members.
The Boeing 777-200, registration N769UA, left Honolulu’s Daniel K. Inouye International Airport just after 1 p.m. local time for the 2,539-mile run to Los Angeles International Airport, where it landed safely. The cause had not been confirmed as of Oct. 22.
A Loud Bang, Then Falling
Passenger Coral Pena heard a loud bang at the moment of impact. “We just started falling, and I was like, ‘Oh my God,’” Pena said.
Marly Wadlington, a San Diego resident aboard the jet, said she was watching a movie when the plane fell. The drop felt long to her, she said, and the cabin shook as people yelled and passengers grew scared.
Passengers were reportedly lifted out of their seats. One passenger said her travel companion nearly struck the cabin ceiling, and Tami Dandoy, a passenger from Lake Havasu, said she saw a flight attendant bleeding from her head and leg.
Far Steeper Than the Usual Descent
Flight-tracking information indicated the 31-year-old Boeing 777 lost approximately 3,675 feet over one minute, but the aircraft was already descending, “making it impossible to attribute the entire altitude change to turbulence without further investigation.” The plunge took the jet from 22,800 feet to 14,000 feet in two minutes and 30 seconds, after which the aircraft continued toward Los Angeles at a more conservative rate.
The United flight that made the same Honolulu-to-Los Angeles run before it never descended steeper than 2,725 feet per minute, and held even that only briefly. Flight 1157 arrived 20 minutes late, according to flight data.
Two Vortices and a Pilot’s Hunch
Flight audio indicated the crew had run into wake turbulence. “It only lasted a couple of seconds, it felt like wake turbulence, but we’re smooth now,” the pilot said in a radio call to air traffic control. As of Oct. 22, one of the pilots had suggested on air traffic control recordings that the aircraft may have encountered wake turbulence generated by another aircraft.
The FAA describes wake turbulence as two counter-rotating vortices that one aircraft generates and another flies into. Those vortices are capable of causing injuries because they can roll a plane harder than its own controls can counter, according to the agency.
Hurt Crew Stuck on the Tarmac
At least two of the injured crew members were left with neck and back injuries. In-flight communications indicated that the two are women, ages 62 and 58.
The plane then sat on the tarmac for at least 30 minutes with the injured flight attendants still on board, waiting to reach a gate. United said four flight attendants were seen by medical personnel after the landing, and at least one was taken to a hospital for further treatment.
United said no customers were injured and that the flight encountered the turbulence as it descended. Passengers came out of their seats during the abrupt drop.
