6 injured as American Airlines flight makes 'hard landing' at Maui airport

Six people were injured Saturday afternoon when an American Airlines flight, which departed from Los Angeles, made a "hard landing" at Kahului Airport in Maui, authorities said.

The Maui Police Department said first responders were called to the scene at about 2:21 pm, Hawaii News reported.

American Airlines confirmed one passenger and five flight attendants were injured. They were transported to a hospital in stable condition and subsequently released.

There were 167 passengers and seven crew members aboard the aircraft.

American Airlines said that its Flight 271 was able to taxi to the gate under its power. The plane was taken out of service for inspection.

The event follows a series of aircraft-related incidents that were reported this month.

Earlier this month, a California-bound Alaska Airlines flight made an emergency landing at Portland International Airport after a large portion of a side wall of the aircraft blew out mid-air soon after departure because of depressurisation.

Although there were no casualties or injuries and the plane landed safely, US regulators temporarily grounded 171 Boeing 737 MAX 9 jetliners — the kind of aircraft involved in the incident — for safety checks a day after the incident.

A few weeks after the groundings, an Atlas Air Boeing 747-8 cargo plane experienced an "engine malfunction" mid-air en route to Puerto Rico from Miami, according to an airline official.

However, no injuries were reported as the aircraft never climbed above 3,800 ft.

In another incident, a Virgin Atlantic flight was cancelled right before departure from the United Kingdom to New York City after a passenger spotted missing screws on the plane's wing.

The passengers recorded footage of an engineer using a screwdriver to fix missing fasteners in the Airbus A330 aircraft.

Airbus local chief wing engineer, Neil Firth, confirmed that the panel affected was a secondary structure for improving the plane's aerodynamics. Each panel contains 119 fasteners, and the missing ones did not impact the wing's structural integrity or load capability.