300 passengers stranded in Pago Pago to arrive today

By Walter Wright
Advertiser Staff Writer

More than 300 Hawaiian Airlines passengers who were stranded in Pago Pago, American Samoa on Friday are expected to arrive this morning at Honolulu International Airport, the company said last night.

Three of Hawaiian's DC-10 aircraft were out of service, two of them unexpectedly so, preventing the airline from sending its normal flight to Pago Pago in time for the scheduled return at 11 p.m. Friday.

Passengers who needed accommodations were put up in hotels, but there was a scramble to find available rooms at the late hour, Hawaiian Airlines spokesman Keoni Wagner said. Passengers were given meal vouchers and transportation if they needed it, he said.

The problem got worse when Hawaiian managed to get another DC-10 to the island on Saturday. It developed engine trouble when it departed the gate, and the 304 passengers on the full flight again were taken off the aircraft and offered room and board for the night.

The engine problem will require replacement of the engine, a project which will take "some time" because of the logistics of getting a new engine flown out to the South Pacific island, Wagner said.

"We had a lot of disappointed and frustrated passengers," Wagner said. "We did our best to make them comfortable, and I am aware of no major emergencies."

The unusual equipment shortage may cause some short delays today on other routes served by Hawaiian's DC-10s.

Hawaiian also flies five Boeing 767s and, on interisland flights, 13 Boeing 717s.

A replacement aircraft was flown to Pago Pago yesterday and was scheduled to arrive at 8:39 p.m. local time for a 10:25 p.m. departure, which would put it back in Honolulu shortly after 5 a.m. today, Wagner said.

"Typically, we would have had a spare aircraft, but because two were unexpectedly unavailable it really stretched our fleet thin," Wagner said.

Reach Walter Wright at wwright@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8054.