Navy spy plane overshoots runway, ends up floating in Hawaii bay

globalnews.ca:

A U.S. navy surveillance plane trying to land at a military base in Hawaii overshot the runway and ended up floating in the waters of Kane’ohe Bay on Monday. The plane is still floating there as of Tuesday morning as it sits on top of a reef in shallow water, according to local media.

Nine navy personnel were on board the aircraft when it crashed into the water, but they were all rescued unharmed. The P-8A Poseidon plane was attempting to land at Marine Corps Base Hawaii in inclement weather when it splashed into the bay.

A photo of the aircraft shows it floating with its wings just above the surface of the water.

Lt. Hailey Harms, deputy director of public affairs for the base, told the New York Times the nine people on board managed to escape the aircraft and pile into an inflatable life raft. The crew had been flying a routine training mission.

Marine Corps spokesperson Gunnery Sgt. Orlando Perez told The Associated Press he had no information about what caused the P-8A aircraft to go off the runway.

It was cloudy and rainy at the time and visibility was only about 1.6 kilometres, said Thomas Vaughan, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Honolulu. Broadcast footage and photos of the plane taken later in the day showed it shrouded in fog.

Diane Dircks, a tourist from Illinois visiting Hawaii, said she watched the rescue boats approach the downed aircraft through her daughter’s binoculars.

“We went running over to the end of the dock, and I took some pictures,” she said. “It was unbelievable.”

Aircraft expert Peter Forman told Hawaii News Now the runway at the Kane’ohe base is shorter than normal. He believes the poor weather and windy conditions also played a role in the crash.

“The pilot probably didn’t put the