The U.S. Coast Guard is called upon to help out in a variety of situations. One Coast Guard unit teamed up with Search and Rescue to rescue the occupants of an inter-island flight.
Search
Off the coast of Honolulu, two pilots in a cargo ship were forced to make a water landing. Their Boeing 737 was having engine problems and was trying to go back to Honolulu.
Transair Flight 810 pilots had to land the plane in the water, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, since they did not feel like they were able to make it all the way back.
The U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Commander Karin Evelyn said they were notified around 1:40 a.m. that the Boeing 737 was down in the water. A Coast Guard helicopter found the debris after an hour of searching. They also spotted two people in the water.
Rescue
One was brought up to the helicopter and transferred to Queen's Medical Center. The second person was picked up by Honolulu Fire Department. Neither of their identities was released.
One of the rescued pilots was a 58-year-old who is in critical condition in the intensive care unit. The other was a 50-year-old who came in via a coat and was transferred over to the hospital in serious condition.
The individual had lacerations and a head injury. While both people on board were brought in to safety, debris still remains in the water. According to Evelyn, the Coast Guard planned to take a look at the extent of the debris and pollution when they had more light.
The state Department of Transportation said debris from the crash was found 4 miles off the coast of Oahu. The Boeing 737 cargo plane had been flying a route from Honolulu to Maui.
Formal Crash Investigation
The crash will be investigated by the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board. According to the NTSB twitter, seven investigators will head out to the scene in order to determine the cause.
The plane is an older model that is not used for transporting passengers anymore. There are only around 60 of the 737-200s left that are still flying.
About 200 of the planes have crashed over the years. According to Harro Ranter with the Aviation Safety Network database, "For a jet that has been in production for so long and is being used so extensively, 203 hull-loss accidents can be considered a very good safety record."
I hope it was transferring the clintons and obamas money to Hawaii for further transfer to Indonesia......
Considering the difficulty of an "open sea" ditching, that the pilots were able to have sufficient time to evacuate was a terrific feat of skill. Even greater that this as a "night ditching". Hopefully both pilots will successfully recover from their injuries.
Bravo Zulu