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Navy video shows no widespread reef damage from plane in Kaneohe Bay

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Video courtesy U.S. Navy
The U.S. Navy has released underwater footage of the P-8A Poseidon that slid off a runway at Marine Corps Base Hawaii on Nov. 20 and now sits in Kaneohe Bay.
VIDEO CAPTURES COURTESY MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII
                                Navy divers assigned to Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit One conducted an underwater survey Tuesday of a U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon in Kaneohe Bay. The video, collected to document the marine environment, depicts the two points of contact the aircraft has with the coral and the remainder of the aircraft floating above.
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VIDEO CAPTURES COURTESY MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII

Navy divers assigned to Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit One conducted an underwater survey Tuesday of a U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon in Kaneohe Bay. The video, collected to document the marine environment, depicts the two points of contact the aircraft has with the coral and the remainder of the aircraft floating above.

COURTESY VIDEO CAPTURES MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII
                                Navy Divers assigned to Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit One (MDSU-1) conduct an underwater survey of a U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.
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COURTESY VIDEO CAPTURES MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII

Navy Divers assigned to Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit One (MDSU-1) conduct an underwater survey of a U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.

JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM
                                The U.S. Navy P-8A aircraft is seen Monday in Kanehoe Bay.
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JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM

The U.S. Navy P-8A aircraft is seen Monday in Kanehoe Bay.

VIDEO CAPTURES COURTESY MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII
                                Navy divers assigned to Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit One conducted an underwater survey Tuesday of a U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon in Kaneohe Bay. The video, collected to document the marine environment, depicts the two points of contact the aircraft has with the coral and the remainder of the aircraft floating above.
COURTESY VIDEO CAPTURES MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII
                                Navy Divers assigned to Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit One (MDSU-1) conduct an underwater survey of a U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.
JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM
                                The U.S. Navy P-8A aircraft is seen Monday in Kanehoe Bay.

Related Photo Gallery

Navy footage shows no wide-spread reef damage from plane in Kaneohe Bay

Underwater video taken of a Navy P-8A Poseidon plane sitting in Kaneohe Bay shows two points of the plane resting on coral reef but no extensive damage.

Navy divers from Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit One based at Joint Base Pearl Harbor­-Hickam shot an hour of video between 11 a.m. and noon Tuesday just before high tide, according to the Navy. The video shows only 1 minutes, 44 seconds of various angles, including the plane’s left landing gear amid coral.

“It’s about time. Better late than never,” said state Sen. Jarrett Keohokalole (D, Kaneohe-Kailua), who free dives in the bay and lives across from Marine Corps Base Hawaii where the plane can be seen by the naked eye off of the mauka end of the lone base runway.

Keohokalole has been asking the Marines for public updates since the crew and the plane skidded off the runway in rainy weather on Nov. 20 while approaching from the makai side of the base.

In the video, Keohokalole said, “It doesn’t look like there’s catastrophic damage to the reef. I’m thankful we’ve finally heard answers from the Navy. Keep going. Be safe, but please hurry (in removing the plane). There’s a storm right now so the sooner the better.”

A few tips of reef tentacles appear bright white, suggesting they were recently broken off, said Wayne Tanaka, the Sierra Club’s executive director, who grew up fishing on Kaneohe Bay.

After watching the video, Tanaka said the P-8A is “definitely on the reef. But it’s hard to tell the full extent of the damage. And we don’t know what may happen as they continue with salvage operations. I hope the Navy realizes how important it is to remove this jet from the reef before more damage is done.”

The mishap has caused fixed-wing operations to cease out of concern that takeoffs and landings could cause the P-8A to shift in the bay.

Neither the Navy nor the Marines have announced a timetable or plan to remove the P-8A.

The plane came to rest about 100 feet off of the end of the runway in depths that vary from 5 to 25 feet. The Navy said Monday that the plane appears intact and testing on the more than 2,000 gallons of fuel that was removed suggests no water entered the fuel system.

In a statement accompanying the video, the San Diego-based Third Fleet said, “The Navy is developing a plan to remove the aircraft that prioritizes safety of people (salvage workers), safety of the environment and restoring combat capability of the aircraft. The Navy is conducting a thorough investigation of the mishap to determine the cause and prevent similar mishaps in the future.”

On Monday, Navy officials said the P-8A has been anchored to the lone base runway about 100 feet off Marine Corps Base Hawaii to restrict it from shifting in the bay.

There has been no timetable offered for when the P-8A out of Whidbey Island, Wash., might be extracted but two ideas are under consideration.

One would float the plane high enough to enable a crane to haul it ashore. Another would use inflatable bags en route from Louisiana this week to get the plane high enough out of Kaneohe Bay and back on land.

Before the plane slid off the runway, a boom already was in place around the runway to prevent spills from contaminating the bay and its wildlife.

The Navy uses P-8A Poseidons assigned to the “Skinny Dragons” Patrol Squadron 4 out of Washington for multiple missions, including submarine warfare, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.

The plane and its crew of three pilots and six crew members that ended up in Kaneohe Bay was inbound as part of homeland defense but was not outfitted with cruise missiles or torpedoes.

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