A small plane with four people on board crashed in waters off the coast of Hawaii after running out of fuel, just hours after the pilot of another plane ran out of fuel and safely landed his aircraft off the coast of Maui.
A single-engine Cessna with three adults and one child on board radioed a distress call at 6:18 p.m. (11:18 p.m. ET), the Coast Guard said. The plane flying from Kauai to Oahu disappeared from radar about 10 minutes later. All four people were rescued by helicopter and taken to Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point near Honolulu, where they were transferred for emergency medical services. The conditions of the passengers was not known, the Coast Guard said.
Earlier, a single-engine Cirrus SR-22 aircraft flying from California ran out of fuel north of Hawaii, but the pilot was able to deploy the plane's parachute and glide to safety in the Pacific Ocean, the Coast Guard said. The pilot, who wasn't identified, was reported in good condition after a cruise ship that was called to help picked him up.
The plane remained partly submerged Sunday night about 250 miles from Maui, where it went down a few hours after the pilot contacted the Hawaii National Guard about 12:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. ET) and said his aircraft had about three hours of fuel left. Watchstanders at the Coast Guard Joint Rescue Coordination Center in Honolulu hailed the Holland America cruise ship, which coordinated the rescue with the pilot and the Coast Guard.
IN-DEPTH
— M. Alex Johnson