HONOLULU — Ki‘inaniokalani Kahoʻohanohano longed for a deeper connection to her Native Hawaiian ancestors and culture as she prepared to give birth to her first child at home on the north shore of Maui in 2003.

But generations of colonialist suppression had eroded many Hawaiian traditions, and it was hard to find information on how the islands’ Indigenous people honored pregnancy or childbirth. Nor could she find a Native Hawaiian midwife.

That experience led Kahoʻohanohano — now a mother of five — to become a Native Hawaiian midwife herself, a role in which she spent years helping to deliver as many as three babies a month, receiving them in a traditional cloth made of woven bark and uttering sacred, tremorous chants as she welcomed them into the world.

Her quest to preserve tradition also led her into a downtown Honolulu courtroom this week, where she and others are seeking to block a state law that they say endangers their ability to continue serving pregnant women who hope for such customary Native Hawaiian births.

“To be able to have our babies in the places and in the ways of our kupuna, our ancestors, is very vital,” she testified. “To me, the point of what we do is to be able to return birth home to these places.”

Lawmakers enacted a midwife licensure law in 2019, finding that the “improper practice of midwifery poses a significant risk of harm to the mother or newborn, and may result in death.” Violations are punishable by up to a year in jail, plus thousands of dollars in criminal and civil fines.

The measure requires anyone who provides “assessment, monitoring, and care” during pregnancy, labor, childbirth and during the postpartum period to be licensed. The women’s lawsuit says that would include a wide range of people, including midwives, doulas, lactation consultants, and even family and friends of the new mother.

Until last summer, the law provided an exception for “birth attendants,” which allowed Kahoʻohanohano to continue practicing Native Hawaiian birth customs. With that exception now expired, however, she and others face the licensing requirements — which, they say, include costly programs only available out of state or online that don’t align with Hawaiian culture and beliefs.

In 2022, the average cost of an accredited midwifery program was $6,200 to $6,900 a year, according to court documents filed by the state.

Attorneys for the state argued in a court filing that the law “undoubtedly serves a compelling interest in protecting pregnant persons from receiving ill-advice from untrained individuals.”

State Deputy Attorney General Isaac Ickes told Judge Shirley Kawamura that the law doesn’t outlaw Native Hawaiian midwifery or homebirths, but that requiring a license reduces the risks of harm or death.

The dispute is the latest in a long history of debate about how and whether Hawaii should regulate the practice of traditional healing arts that dates to well before the islands became the 50th state in 1959. Those arts were banished or severely restricted for much of the 20th century, but the Hawaiian Indigenous rights movement of the 1970s renewed interest in the customary ways.

Hawaii eventually adopted a system where councils versed in Native Hawaiian healing certify traditional practitioners, though those suing say their efforts to form such a council for midwifery have failed.

Practicing midwifery without a license, meanwhile, was banned until 1998 — when, lawmakers say, they inadvertently decriminalized it when they altered the regulation of nurse-midwives, something the 2019 law sought to remedy.

Among the nine plaintiffs are women who seek traditional births and argue that the new licensing requirement violates their right of privacy and reproductive autonomy under Hawaii’s Constitution. They are represented by the Center for Reproductive Rights and the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation.

“For pregnant people whose own family may no longer hold the knowledge of the ceremonial and sacred aspects of birth, a midwife trained in Native Hawaiian traditional and customary birthing practices can be an invaluable, culturally informed health care provider,” the lawsuit states.

When Kahoʻohanohano was unable to find a Native Hawaiian midwife to attend the birth of her first child, she turned instead to a Native American one, who was open to incorporating traditional Hawaiian aspects that Kahoʻohanohano gleaned from her elders.

She surrounded herself with Hawaiian cultural practitioners focusing on pule, or prayer, and lomilomi, a traditional massage with physical and spiritual elements. It all helped ease her three days of labor, she said. And then, “two pushes and pau” — done — the boy was born.

The births of her five children in various Maui communities, Kahoʻohanohano said, were her “greatest teachers” in herself becoming one of the very few midwives who know about Native Hawaiian birthing practices.

She is believed to be the first person in a century to give birth on her husband’s ancestral lands in Kahakuloa, a remote west Maui valley of mostly Native Hawaiians, where her daughter was born in 2015. The community is at least 40 minutes along winding roads to the island’s only hospital.

Kahoʻohanohano testified about helping low-risk pregnant women and identifying instances where she transferred someone to receive care at the hospital but said she’s never experienced any emergency situations.

Among the other plaintiffs are midwives she has helped train and women she has aided through birth. Makalani Franco-Francis testified that she learned about customary birth practices from Kahoʻohanohano, including how to receive a newborn in kapa, or traditional cloth, and cultural protocols for a placenta, including taking it to the ocean or burying it to connect a newborn to its ancestral lands.

The law has halted her education, Franco-Francis said. She testified that she’s not interested in resuming her midwifery education through out-of-state or online programs.

“It’s not in alignment with our cultural practices, and it’s also a financial obligation,” she said.

The judge heard testimony through the week. It’s not clear how soon a ruling might come.

Southwest Airlines has just internally revealed details of an incident that occurred back in April 2024, which can only be described as a very close call.

Southwest 737 descends to 400 feet above ocean

This incident dates back to April 11, 2024, and involves Southwest Airlines flight WN2786, scheduled to operate from Honolulu (HNL) to Lihue (LIH). The short 102-mile flight was operated by a roughly two-year-old Boeing 737 MAX 8 with the registration code N8788L.

Interestingly this incident wasn’t investigated by authorities at the time. Instead, this safety incident was reported internally, and Southwest’s Director of Flight Safety Programs & Assurance recently sent a memo to all pilots about what happened, which is why this is now getting some publicity.

With this incident, a very senior captain and a very junior first officer were paired on a three-day trip to Hawaii. The flight from the mainland to Hawaii went well, and then on the second day they were supposed to operate some inter-island flights.

Before the first flight, the pilots saw that the weather conditions at Lihue Airport were bad (poor visibility, thunderstorms, strong winds, etc.), and many pilots of other aircraft were performing missed approaches. Nonetheless, the captain elected to have the first officer be the “pilot flying” on this sector, to build their experience.

The pilots were prepared for a potential go around, given that conditions at the departure airport were just above the “minimums” needed to land, so they were fully briefed on the correct procedures. Sure enough, when the aircraft approached runway 17, the pilots didn’t have the runway in sight, so the first officer called for a go around. Unfortunately this go around was anything but routine.

During the go around, the first officer inadvertently pushed forward on the control column. The first officer also noticed the red airspeed tape, and pulled back on the thrust levers. When you push forward the control column and reduce thrust, there’s only one direction the plane is going, and that’s down. The plane descended all the way down to 400 feet(!!!!) above the Pacific Ocean.

While the “DON’T SINK” and “PULL UP” warnings went off in the cockpit during this time, the first officer states they didn’t hear this due to intense task saturation.

Fortunately the captain noticed what was going on at this point, and told the first officer to climb and turn left, causing the first officer to aggressively increase thrust. The aircraft climbed, maxing out at a climb rate of 8,500 feet per minute, which is very high.

Once the situation stabilized, the pilots first entered a holding pattern, and then made the decision to return to Honolulu, where the plane landed just under 85 minutes after it first departed.

Once back on the ground in Honolulu, the captain consulted with the dispatcher, and made the decision to try flying to Lihue again, with the captain being the “pilot flying” this time. Interestingly, the first officer didn’t speak up against this at the time, but later said that they wish they had shared their desire not to try a second attempt.

The first officer stated that they didn’t speak up in order to maintain the integrity of Southwest’s operation, and also because regulatory requirements to operate were still being met. So the flight departed Honolulu again, but weather conditions deteriorated, so the aircraft ultimately returned to Honolulu a second time.

@jonostrower published the full letter that Southwest shared internally with pilots regarding the incident, which is some fascinating reading.

I’m curious what’s learned from this event

It goes without saying that this event was terrifying, and a close call. The aircraft descended all the way down to 400 feet with virtually no visibility, so the plane was literally seconds from being in the Pacific Ocean. Fortunately this had a good ending for all involved.

There’s something to be learned from every aviation incident. Both pilots participated in a human factors interview following the flight, and stated that “seeing the severity of the event through the animations was a significant, emotional event.” The pilots also participated in comprehensive, corrective action, including Line Experience.

It’s way beyond my area of expertise to judge what happened here. It’s common for senior captains to be paired with junior officers (especially given how airline hiring has evolved in recent years), and it’s also important for newer pilots to gain experience with difficult situations, under close supervision.

What’s at least reassuring here is how transparently Southwest is communicating internally regarding this incident, and the fact that the pilots voluntarily reported what happened. That’s ultimately how aviation becomes safer.

Bottom line

A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 had a close call in Hawaii back in April, while trying to land in Lihue during a storm. A junior first officer was flying, and executed a go around. Somehow the first officer inadvertently pushed the control column down while also reducing thrust, causing the jet to descend to an altitude of just 400 feet above sea level.

Once the error was realized, the pilots went to the opposite extreme, and the jet climbed at a speed of up to 8,500 feet per minute. Fortunately the pilots managed to divert the aircraft safely back to Honolulu, but my gosh, what an incident.

What do you make of this Southwest incident?

Coco Palms Resort on the Hawaiian island of Kauai is finally getting a new life as a Kimpton resort participating in IHG One Rewards.

Since 1992, the famed resort has sat untouched and in disrepair after being significantly damaged during Hurricane Iniki. Before that, the hotel was a hot spot for celebrities back in its heyday, hosting the likes of Elvis Presley, Gene Autry and Rita Hayworth.

Now, the property will transform into Coco Palms, A Kimpton Resort, the first property in IHG’s luxury and lifestyle collection in Hawaii. It is set to open in 2026.

Reef Capital Partners owns the dilapidated resort, which has remained essentially untouched for over 30 years, according to Hawaii’s KHON-TV. The owners reportedly plan to spend $400 million to repair it.

Once opened, the fresh resort will feature 350 rooms in three different low-rise buildings and a redesign “guided by Native Hawaiian advisors within the local community,” according to a statement from IHG. This will ensure that “guests are welcomed with an authentic, culturally rich experience.”

Once restored and renovated, Coco Palms will offer three swimming pools and various restaurants and bars, including a rooftop bar and a pool bar. The original hotel’s evening torch-lighting ceremony will also return after three decades.

Additionally, the resort will have an on-site cultural center and museum that celebrates the island of Kauai and its history and traditions through special exhibits, lectures, activations and other educational experiences.

“Hawaii beckons travelers seeking both relaxation and discovery,” Leanne Harwood, IHG’s senior vice president and managing director for luxury and lifestyle in the Americas, said in the statement. “This wholly reimagined resort will welcome not only visitors but also the local community, with unique, culturally respectful experiences all within an inspiring boutique luxury setting.”

Once open, Coco Palms will serve as the “west coast resort flagship” and join a series of Kimpton-branded resorts around the world, including properties in Thailand, Spain and the Caribbean.

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