By
HNN Staff December 12, 2018 at 2:39 PM HST - Updated December 12 at 5:21 PM
(Image: Nedra Muir-Lowery)
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - A military training exercise turned into a real-life test for rescuers Wednesday when a jet participating in the Sentry Aloha war games crashed off Honolulu, leaving its pilot seriously injured.
A military spokesman said the pilot was a civilian contractor, and was flying a British-made Hawker Hunter aircraft.
Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam said Sentry Aloha has been temporarily suspended in the wake of the crash, which remains under investigation.
The pilot of the craft ejected moments before the crash, which happened just before 2:30 p.m. three miles south of the Reef Runway at Honolulu’s airport.Outbound flights from the airport were halted for about 20 minutes, but have since resumed.
Shortly after the crash, a parasail operator rescued the pilot and he was then picked up by a Coast Guard vessel.
Mark Ladner, of Extreme Parasail, was the good Samaritan who jumped into the water to help save the pilot.
“When I got into the water, I was asking him, are you OK? And he said yeah, my back hurts from the compression," Ladner said. "He had a little bit of blood coming out, I think it might have been from the impact because he was going pretty fast.”Witness Nedra Muir-Lowery said they heard a “loud boom” just before the pilot ejected.
"Then we saw his parachute come out and his plane go straight into the water and basically nosedive into the water,” Muir-Lowery said.
Witnesses fishing nearby said they saw the Hawker Hunter starting to fall shortly after takeoff.
“After the pilot ejected, the plane went down in a big way,” said Brendt Chang. “The Coast Guard has been doing maneuvers here. They were doing maneuvers anyway. They were on top of the pilot within two minutes.”Chang said there was lots of fuel in the water after the crash, but very little debris.
Mark Neumann, owner of Hawaiian Parasail, said the plane crashed near one of his boats in the water.
Two people were in a parasail at the time, and the crash came too close for comfort, he said.
“My captain and crew thought it was going to hit the parachute,” he said. “It went by and right after it went by them, the pilot ejected and the plane crashed into the water real close to our boat.”
He said none of his crew members or customers were injured.
Paramedics said the man was in serious condition after being recovered. They described the crash as a “controlled fall," and said the man suffered unspecified traumatic injuries.
The single-seat Hawker Hunter aircraft was participating in Sentry Aloha exercises off Oahu when it got into trouble.
This undated image shows a Hawker Hunter aircraft before takeoff. (Image: ATAC)The plane was owned by Airborne Tactical Advantage Company, which is a civilian “tactical airborne training organization." A company spokesman said they are investigating.Rescuers, including the Coast Guard and members of the Honolulu Fire Department, remained at the scene of the crash into the late afternoon.
The Hawaii Air National Guard hosts Sentry Aloha. Some 800 people and 30 aircraft from nine states are participating.
The last time a military jet crashed off Honolulu was in 2008. Back then, it was a
Hawaii Air National Guard F-15. The pilot was able to safely eject.