Search for missing plane is suspended
COURTESY PHOTO
(left to right) John Mizuno, Michael Childers, Whitney Thomas
The Coast Guard suspended its search at sunset Sunday for a small aircraft carrying three Oahu residents that disappeared from radar Friday night off of Molokai.
“Unfortunately, right now we really have nothing to go on,” said Coast Guard spokeswoman Tara Molle, adding that officials hadn’t found any debris from the plane or oil slicks. She said that the search could be resumed if there is a development in the case.
The people aboard the Cessna were pilot Michael Childers and passengers John Mizuno and Whitney Thomas, all in their 20s.
A total of 29 searches covering more than 1,400 square miles were conducted, according to a Coast Guard news release issued Sunday evening.
“Our most heartfelt condolences go out to the families and friends of Michael, Whitney and John,” said Lt. Nic Iannarone, Coast Guard Joint Rescue Coordination Center command duty officer, in the news release. “Suspending a search is an incredibly difficult decision to make, especially during the holiday season. Our crews along with Maui County Fire Department and the National Park Service have completely covered the search areas on ground and sea and have found no trace of the Cessna.”
Rescue personnel had been patrolling both the ocean and the shore in search of any sign of the plane or the passengers, at times battling low visibility, high seas and windy conditions.
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Coast Guard crews searched by air with a C-130 Hercules airplane and MH-65 Dolphin helicopter. Crews were also deployed on the cutter Kittiwake and a patrol boat called the Galveston Island. Personnel from fire stations on Molokai and Maui assisted in the search.
The Hawaii Control Facility at Honolulu Airport reported the Cessna 172 as missing at 7 p.m. on Friday shortly after it had departed Molokai for Oahu. Officials believe that the plane may have crashed about 4 miles east of Ilio Point.
3 responses to “Search for missing plane is suspended”
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Given there is no floating debris, there are two scenarios that are probable, that the aircraft crashed steeply into the water or did land successfully and then sank intact. No criticism intended, but search efforts don’t seem to last as long as they did before. Don’t know is this due to cost factors or a change in approach. Exposure would be a survival issue currently, as atmosphere and associated ocean temperatures are pretty cool now for the Hawaiian islands area.
You missed one other important factor and that is the safety of all of the people searching for the missing people. They gave a full effort of the area they think the plane went down but after that failed, to continue without any more information would not be fruitful and put others at additonal risk. Also I am sure they don’t want to say this but after 3 days of all out searching, if they haven’t been found by now, it is not likely they will ever find them with a positve outcome as the current conditions of the open ocean are unforgiving.
You are correct the searchers are also at risk and I am sure that they did the best they could. Just seems in the past the search was for at least a week and now it seems just for a few days. Unless they carried a life raft (which was unusual in my flying days and probably not more likely now due to cost) in addition to life vests, I guess floating in a vest, unfortunately makes you a long-shot to be seen.
One tip I can suggest (but at your own discretion) is that anyone using a supplied life vest (not on an airliner type aircraft), whether boating or in a light aircraft, might want to ask for assistance by someone qualified to unscrew/check/re-screw tightly the CO2 capsules, to make sure no one fired them (hole in top if used), as it is not unheard of for a capsule to be already activated for some reason and you cannot tell when they are attached. I am not implying negligence by any travel providers, but I have seen this even when flying a light aircraft myself interisland and was told by my old flight instructor to check.
You are ultimately responsible for your own safety and having to blow up your own vest through the tubes when in shock and rough ocean conditions is not where you want to be.