Hawaii official reports all 9 aboard U.S. Navy plane that overshot runway have escaped unharmed
A U.S. Navy plane skids off the runway in Hawaii but all 9 passengers emerge unscathed
The Coast Guard’s rescue operation was canceled after all those involved were found safe. “It sounds like all parties involved were rescued,” said Petty Officer Ryan Fisher, a Coast Guard spokesperson.
The Marine Corps spokesperson, Gunnery Sgt. Orlando Perez, had no information about the cause of the P-8A aircraft skidding off the runway at Marine Corps Base Hawaii.
A witness captured a photo of the plane in the ocean, reminiscent of the “Miracle on the Hudson” in 2009 when a passenger jet made an emergency landing. All 155 passengers survived. The P-8A and the Airbus A320 that was involved in the famous landing were of similar size.
Upon returning from a pontoon boat trip, Diane Dircks and her family saw the plane in the water. “We went running over to the end of the dock, and I took some pictures,” she said, her daughter using binoculars to observe the plane and the rescue boats arriving. “It was unbelievable,” she added.
The Honolulu Fire Department received a 911 call shortly after 2 p.m. for a downed aircraft. At the time, visibility was around 1 mile due to cloudy and rainy weather, according to Thomas Vaughan, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Honolulu.
The P-8A is commonly used for submarine hunting and reconnaissance. It shares many parts with the 737 commercial jet and is manufactured by Boeing. The plane belongs to the Skinny Dragons of Patrol Squadron 4 stationed at Whidbey Island in Washington state. Marine Corps Base Hawaii, located about 10 miles from Honolulu, houses around 9,300 military personnel and 5,100 family members.
The base sits on Kaneohe Bay, home to coral reefs, a breeding ground for hammerhead sharks, and the University of Hawaii marine biology research institute.
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Associated Press writer Jennifer Sinco Kelleher contributed to this report. Dupuy reported from New York.
