Navy works to remove crashed Wash. plane before it damages Hawaiian reefs
Nov 28, 2023, 9:58 AM | Updated: 3:24 pm
A Whidbey-based Navy jet that overshot a runway in Hawaii one week ago is still in the Pacific Ocean, but the Navy has said that they are working to remove all the hazardous materials in the environmentally sensitive bay.
Salvage crews are having to plan the plane’s removal carefully because it is on, or near, a coral reef and other delicate environmental or cultural spots in Oahu’s Kaneohe Bay, about 10 miles from Honolulu.
More news: Single part failure caused deadly seaplane crash off Whidbey Island
The P-8A aircraft crashed on Nov. 20, just past the runway at a Marine base on Kaneohe Bay, after overshooting the runway and landing in the bay in Hawaii. All nine people aboard the plane traveling from Whibey Naval Air Station survived the crash.
Rear Adm. Kevin Lenox told the Associated Press that there was an estimated 2,000 gallons of fuel on board the P-8A. State environmental officials expect to conduct a damage assessment once the plane is removed.
“The team extracted all the fuel that they could get out of those tanks. This process was completed successfully without any fuel being released into the bay,” Lenox said at a news conference. Removing the fuel will reduce the risks for the rest of the salvage operation, Lenox said.
There are two options the Navy is considering to remove the crashed plane: either to float it till it gets close enough for a crane to grab or to float it on top of cylinders and then roll it up onto the runway.
Lenox said the Navy has three priorities while it does this work: safety of the salvage crew, protecting the environment, and preserving the capability of the aircraft.
The Navy has not said why the plane crashed and has not released any information in their investigation of the incident.
The plane is assigned to 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 rotating basis.
The Navy has flown out another P-8A from Washington state to carry out patrol duties in place of the incapacitated jet. It is flying out of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, on the other side of Oahu.
P-8As are most often used to hunt for submarines and for intelligence gathering.
