KONA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT —Two pilots were rescued Friday morning after ditching plane off the Kona Coast.
There were unloaded from a rescue helicopter about noon Friday at Kona International Airport. A Coast Guard official said they suffered minor injuries. They were transported via medics to Kona Community Hospital.
Debris was located about 8:19 a.m. Friday in the search for 26-year-old David McMahon, of Kailua, Oahu, and Sidney Uemoto, who is in her 20s, after the pair apparently had to ditch their twin-engine plane off the Kona Coast.
U.S. Coast Guard officials the said debris was sighted by an Orion crew about 52 miles northwest of Kailua-Kona.
The man and woman were aboard a Piper Apache traveling from Maui to Kona International Airport when the pilot radioed air traffic control around 3:15 p.m. Thursday to report an air emergency and were likely going to have to ditch the aircraft in the water.
Shortly thereafter that plane disappeared from radar.
Initial reports indicated there were three people aboard the dual engine aircraft, however, Lt. Scott Carr, with the Coast Guard District 14 public affairs office, said officials spoke with family members of those on board who confirmed two people were making the trip.
At the time of the incident, a U.S. Navy p3 Orion aircraft was on approach to Kona International Airport and the crew overheard the pilot’s emergency call to the tower. They initially diverted to investigate the report, but are not involved in the ongoing search Friday.
Watchstanders immediately advised mariners to keep a sharp lookout and report any sightings to the Joint Rescue Coordination Center in Honolulu. An array of assets were also launched to assist in the search.
Searching Friday morning were an HC-130 Hercules airplane, MH-65 Dolphin helicopter, Navy MH-60R helicopter, the USS Chung Hoon, USGS Galveston Island, as well as international assets, including a P3 aircraft out of New Zealand, participating in RIMPAC 2016 exercises, said Carr.
