A US Navy plane flying in wet weather overshot a runway at a military base in Hawaii and splashed into Kaneohe Bay but all nine people on board were uninjured, authorities said.
The Coast Guard responded but rescue operations were quickly called off, said Petty Officer Ryan Fisher, a Coast Guard spokesperson. “It sounds like all parties involved were rescued,” he said.
Marine Corps spokesperson Orlando Perez had no information about what caused the P-8A aircraft to go off the runway at Marine Corps Base Hawaii.
A photo taken by witness Diane Dircks showed the plane in water just offshore, a sight reminiscent of the 2009 Miracle On The Hudson, when a passenger jet piloted by Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger made an emergency landing on the New York river. All 155 people aboard survived.
The P-8A and the Airbus A320 that Mr Sullenberger piloted are roughly the same size.
The Honolulu Fire Department received a 911 call for a downed aircraft shortly after 2pm yesterday, spokesperson Malcolm K Medrano said in an email.
The P-8A is often used to hunt for submarines and for reconnaissance and intelligence gathering. It is manufactured by Boeing and shares many parts with the 737 commercial jet.
The plane belongs to the Skinny Dragons of Patrol Squadron 4 stationed at Whidbey Island in Washington state. Patrol squadrons were once based at Kaneohe Bay but now deploy to Hawaii on a rotational basis.
Marine Corps Base Hawaii is about 16km from Honolulu on Oahu. The base houses about 9,300 military personnel and 5,100 family members.
The base sits on Kaneohe Bay, which is home to coral reefs, a breeding ground for hammerhead sharks and a University of Hawaii marine biology research institute.
