Story below: how could this guy fly 2300 miles and then ditch with 13 miles to go? he couldnt conserve 13 more miles of fuel from the plane? He didnt plan ahead for a trip OVER OCEAN 2300 MILES????? Extra fuel tank in back seat? What about a raft? Pilot from Spain, delivering the plane to Hawai'i from Calif. Still, he had enough experience to avoid this - he was experienced pilot, should have planned this much better. i mean yeah, there might be unexpected head winds flying 2300 miles over OCEAN!!!
Dramatic video released by the Coast Guard shows the plane gliding low over the water and then splashing down. Within seconds the pilot climbs out onto a wing as a helicopter lowers a rescue swimmer, who helps him enter a basket and is hoisted to the hovering aircraft.
The 65-year-old man, who was not seriously injured, was flying solo from Monterey, Calif., when he radioed authorities Friday afternoon that he was running low on fuel about 500 miles from his destination of Hilo, Hawaii, the Coast Guard said. The cities are about 2,300 miles apart.
The Guard sent a plane to rendezvous with the two-engine Cessna and dispatched a ship and helicopter to be ready for a possible rescue, spokesman Lt. Gene Maestas told The Associated Press.
After meeting up with the plane over the Pacific, the Guard's HC-130 Hercules flew alongside for more than an hour, until the aircraft's fuel gave out and it went down 13 miles off Hawaii.
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