Military Plane Crash Hawaii: Hawker Hunter Jet Pilot Survives, Civilian Flights Resume

A military exercise aircraft, piloted by a Hawaii Air National Guard civilian contractor, crashed in the ocean off Honolulu on Wednesday.

The Hawker Hunter jet went down in the ocean around 2:25 p.m. local time (7:25 p.m. EST), after taking off from Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor told the Republic. “The plane went down about 3.5 miles south of Runway 8R,” he said.

U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Matthew West said the unidentified pilot was participating in a military exercise called Sentry Aloha, which involved about 800 personnel and 30 aircraft from nine states.

The 47-year-old pilot was rescued three miles south of Oahu near Honolulu's Sand Island and was taken to safety by a small station boat. Coast Guard Chief Sara Muir said the pilot “got some injuries, but I don’t know what nature they are.” He was reportedly in a stable condition, the Honolulu Star Advertiser reported.

Muir added the pilot was believed to be the only one on board the aircraft at the time of the crash.

Footage from a Surfline Waikiki camera, uploaded on Facebook, captured the entire crash. It showed the jet descending at a rapid speed toward the ocean. The pilot ejected shortly before the plane touched the waters. The camera panned away immediately after the moment of the crash.

It was also captured by a witness standing at a safe distance from the crash site and the video was shared with Hawaii News Now.

Tim Sakahara, spokesman for the state's Department of Transportation (DOT), said all operations were suspended in the Honolulu airport for about 20 minutes after the crash to verify there were no debris on the runway.

“Operations have resumed at #HNL and commercial aircraft are departing again following an earlier incident offshore. Commercial operations are normal at the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport. Passengers are encouraged to check flight status with their airline,” the Hawaii DOT tweeted after the tarmac had been evaluated.

Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam said Sentry Aloha military exercises, in which the Hawker Hunter pilot was participating when his aircraft went down off the coast of Honolulu, have been suspended, Hawaii News Now reported. The cause of the crash was being investigated.

The plane in question was owned by Airborne Tactical Advantage Company, based in Newport News, Virginia, a civilian “tactical airborne training organization." The company confirmed it was looking into the crash. The Hawker Hunter jet itself was designed in the United Kingdom in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

Mark Neumann, owner of Hawaiian Parasail, a boat near which the crash occurred, said the incident happened too close for the comfort of everyone on board his vessel at the time. “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.”

Brendt Chan, another civilian who witnessed the crash, praised the promptness with which the coast guard acted. “After the pilot ejected, the plane went down in a big way. The Coast Guard has been doing maneuvers here. They were doing maneuvers anyway. They were on top of the pilot within two minutes,” Chan said.