I was watching this flight last night because I had some elderly relatives on it and was coordinating a pick-up at the other end.
flightaware.com/live/flight/NWA2 … /KLAX/PHNL
It originated in MSP with a stopover in LAX on the way to HNL. When I first looked at the map, I noticed that the aircraft icon was pointed to the North, which I thought was somewhat unusual it being halfway between LAX and HNL. When I went to the track log, I noticed that the reporting frequency had diminished to about every 20-30 minutes and that the heading was indeed to the North. The reporting frequency further diminished to about once per hour. The reporting frequency was restored to 2-4 minutes when the aircraft began reporting to Honolulu Center, at which time I noticed that it had descended from FL32 to FL24 and stayed there. The speed was also quite variable for a time. The map also showed a track reversal over this time frame. When nearing final approach, the aircraft did an unusual turn and the traffic seemed to clear out in front of it and behind. My elderly relatives will not know what was going on (hard of hearing etc). Anyone have an idea of what happened? Engine loss maybe?
There’s no radar coverage on the most of the route between the mainland and Hawaii. Aircraft report their position to ATC. It wouldn’t be practical for them to report their positions ever minute or two so they are reported every 30 -60 minutes when they reach a reporting point.
Approach to HNL: It looks like it was given a direct approach to HNL rather than having to fly its original route. The turn on approach could have made for spacing purposes.
I don’t see where the aircraft was heading north.
Thanks for the reply. I am new at this and hope I am doing it right…
I understand about the radar coverage and the reporting frequency in the mid-ocean portion of the flight. The indication of a north heading comes at 20:19 in the track log.
By itself, I would take this to be a glitch, but taken in context with the descent to FL24 in mid-ocean, it seemed unusual. I checked the track logs for other flights in the same pathway/time frame and did not see any other similar altitude changes, suggesting that weather may not have been the issue. I gotta imagine that fuel burn at FL24 would be quite a bit greater than FL32 higher. Id does appear: however, that the headwinds down lower were not as bad…
I see what you are talking about now. Unfortunately, I can’t explain that. The only thing I can think of is that it was a glitch caused by the aircraft reporting its position and/or altitude incorrectly or these items manually entered into the ATC computer incorrectly.
Rog…thanks for the input. Somebody was probably working on a laptop or something… 
I am looking forward to talking to the old folks about the flight.
