Pilot safe after landing plane in Keehi Lagoon
COURTESY HAWAII NEWS NOW
A Cessna 337 Skymaster plane made an emergency landing in the water at Keehi Lagoon this afternoon.
COURTESY HAWAII NEWS NOW
Emegency crews tend to the pilot of a Cessna 337 that ditched in Keehi Lagoon this afternoon.
The pilot of a twin-engine Cessna 337 is safe after ditching his plane in Keehi Lagoon this afternoon.
The pilot departed Honolulu International Airport at about 11:55 a.m. for John Rogers Field in Kalaeloa when he discovered a landing gear problem, the Federal Aviation Administration reported.
The pilot was unable to lower his landing gear, so he circled the airport for two hours burning off fuel, until landing in the lagoon at 1:55 p.m., an FAA spokesman said in an email.
Rescue crews were standing by and reached the aircraft within seconds after it landed in the water.
The pilot made the emergency landing at Sea Lane 4/22 off of Lagoon Drive, which is used as a runway for sea planes, said state Department of Transportation spokesman Tim Sakahara.
He was the only person on board.
Rescue crews reported that the pilot was responsive and safe and did not appear to be seriously injured, Sakahara said.
An Emegency Medical Services spokeswoman said the pilot was a 68-year-old man and he did not require transportation to the hospital. Although television news videos and photos show him entering an ambulance.
A check of the plane’s tail number shows it is a Cessna 337 Skymaster, a twin-engine plane that can seat four, with “push-pull” engines in front and back of the fuselage.
It is registered to Mark Jones, the president and chief flight instructor of Moore Air, a flying club that offers planes for personal rental. It also has a flight training center.
Jones was the 2011 Hawaii Flight Instructor of the Year, according to the Moore Air website, and has 40 years of experience flying military and civilian aircraft.
The plane’s original airworthiness certificate was issued in 1980 and it was last certified on Aug. 8, 2014. The certificate is valid until Aug. 31, 2017.
6 responses to “Pilot safe after landing plane in Keehi Lagoon”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
you don’t “land” a wheeled plane in water. it’s called crashing a plane into water.
thumbs up for the pilot for surviving the crash.
In all due respect–it’s a DITCHING and a smart idea–helps prevent a fire and/or explosion on impact. I had one but didn’t have a water option and those hummers do burn!! Smart also to have rescue nearby. Miracle on the Hudson comes to mind!
Belly it in on a runway, airplane could have been repaired. Now it’s an insurance write off…
Hellloooooo??? gonesh, are you a pilot? Apparently not, because a pilot’s main concern in an emergency is SAFETY. Read the comment by “serious says” above and you might understand. Gonesh, you would have been the first to complain had your flight been delayed or diverted because of the “bellied in plane” causing a runway closure. This incident has nothing to do with “an insurance write off” and everything to do with SAFETY by preventing fire, explosion, and traffic delays at a major international airport.
For a small plane like that dropping a wing in the water during a water landing can cause the airplane to cartwheel. As you might guess, this could be hazardous to ones health. Go check you tube, go read some accident reports, anything, find a small airplane that ‘exploded’ or went up in flames in a belly landing. Hollywood? Sure. Reality? Nope. Small general aviation aircraft land gear up all the time because the gear was not extended. A lot of times pilots forget to put the gear down and land on the belly by mistake and they certainly dont end up as Hollywood fireballs. As for flight delays in Honolulu, gear ups happen more than most know about and no, one runway out of four closed for an hour or two won’t delay flights.
For a small plane like that dropping a wing in the water during a water landing can cause the airplane to cartwheel. As you might guess, this could be hazardous to ones health. Go check you tube, go read some accident reports, anything, find a small airplane that ‘exploded’ or went up in flames in a belly landing. Hollywood? Sure. Reality? Nope. Small general aviation aircraft land gear up all the time because the gear was not extended. A lot of times pilots forget to put the gear down and land on the belly by mistake and they certainly dont end up as Hollywood fireballs. As for flight delays in Honolulu, gear ups happen more than most know about and no, one runway out of four closed for an hour or two won’t delay flights.