A Hawaii official says all 9 folks aboard a U.S. Navy aircraft that overshot a runway have escaped damage
HONOLULU — A Navy aircraft flying in wet climate overshot a runway Monday at a navy base in Hawaii and splashed into Kaneohe Bay, however all 9 aboard had been unhurt, authorities mentioned.
The Coast Guard responded, however rescue operations had been shortly referred to as off, mentioned Petty Officer Ryan Fisher, a Coast Guard spokesperson. “It feels like all events concerned had been rescued,” he mentioned.
Marine Corps spokesperson Gunnery Sgt. Orlando Perez had no details about what brought on the P-8A plane to go off the runway at Marine Corps Base Hawaii.
A photograph taken by witness Diane Dircks confirmed the aircraft in water simply offshore, a sight paying homage to the 2009 “ Miracle on the Hudson ” when a passenger jet piloted by Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger made an emergency touchdown on the New York river. All 155 folks aboard survived.
The P-8A and the Airbus A320 that Sullenberger piloted are roughly the identical dimension.
Dircks and her household had simply returned to the dock after wet climate reduce their pontoon boat journey brief when her daughter seen the aircraft within the water.
“We went operating over to the top of the dock, and I took some photos,” she mentioned.
Dircks, who’s visiting from Illinois, mentioned her daughter retains a pair of binoculars on her for birdwatching, so she was in a position to see the aircraft and the rescue boats arriving.
“It was unbelievable,” she mentioned.
The Honolulu Hearth Division acquired a 911 name for a downed plane shortly after 2 p.m., spokesperson Malcolm Okay. Medrano mentioned in an e mail. It was cloudy and wet on the time. Visibility was about 1 mile (1.6 kilometers), mentioned Thomas Vaughan, a Nationwide Climate Service meteorologist in Honolulu.
The P-8A is commonly used to hunt for submarines and for reconnaissance and intelligence gathering. It’s manufactured by Boeing and shares many elements with the 737 industrial jet.
The aircraft belongs to the Skinny Dragons of Patrol Squadron 4 stationed at Whidbey Island in Washington state. Patrol squadrons had been as soon as primarily based at Kaneohe Bay, however now deploy to Hawaii on a rotational foundation.
Marine Corps Base Hawaii is about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from Honolulu on Oahu. The bottom homes about 9,300 navy personnel and 5,100 relations. It is one among a number of key navy installations on Oahu.
The bottom sits on Kaneohe Bay, which is residence to coral reefs, a breeding floor for hammerhead sharks and a College of Hawaii marine biology analysis institute.
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Related Press author Jennifer Sinco Kelleher contributed to this report. Dupuy reported from New York.
