A Skydive Hawaii pilot, Chris was scheduled to fly all day yesterday, Jason Askerooth, assistant manager, said today.
He said the man who ended up flying the plane, John Tucker, was "a very competent pilot" who had left the company six months ago. Tucker rejoined the company but wasn't supposed to start work until next week, Askerooth said.
"Because of the (Smith) tragedy on Kauai, we started Tucker a little earlier."
Shannon Smith, 20, was a UH football player who drowned Saturday saving the life of Cody vonAppen, the 6-year-old son of football coach Fred vonAppen.
Skydive Hawaii General Manager Torsten Werner said all five people aboard the plane survived the crash because of Tucker's deftness in the face of danger.
The single-engine Cessna crashed in 15 feet of water about a minute after taking off at Dillingham Airfield just after noon yesterday.
Tucker, skydiving instructors Mark Hewitt and Charlie Hall, and two unidentified customers from Japan escaped without serious injuries, making their way 150 yards to shore with the help of nearby surfers and kayakers.
"He's a very skilled pilot" with more than 7,000 flight hours, Werner said. "I can tell you he did a good job to bring the plane safely into the water."
Askerooth said plane recovery had been expected this morning but the weather turned bad last night and the surf was 10 to 12 feet today. "It's too dangerous for anyone to go in the water," he said.
He said the plane was in one piece last night -- "I even made a dive on it myself last night" -- but was "shredded in pieces this morning." He added: "All we got back was ripped up wing parts (from the beach)."
Tom Rea, Federal Aviation Administration regional coordinator, said four inspectors from the agency's flight standards office were to work with the Army today to try to recover the plane.
He said the two Japanese nationals who were aboard the plane were interviewed in the hospital but he couldn't comment on what was said. "It will become part of the record."
Skydive Hawaii was one of four Dillingham Airfield skydiving op
erations grounded for three days in September because of safety questions. Werner said those concerns have been resolved and his employees operated with utmost safety yesterday.
Hewitt and Hall met with co-workers at Skydive Hawaii's offices late yesterday afternoon. Werner said, "I (asked) them, 'How are you?' They said, 'Oh, I'm OK,'" Werner said. "We are taking a look at what happened."
Mike Robertson, Federal Aviation Administration inspector in charge of investigation, said his agency still needs to talk to more witnesses. "The conditions at the time were clear and light winds. Our initial assessment is the weather was not a factor.
"There's nothing to indicate that Skydive Hawaii did anything improper. They followed all the proper procedures (once the plane was in trouble)."
Askerooth said the plane was running fine yesterday. "We made three jumps off the plane earlier."
Those aboard said the plane experienced engine trouble during takeoff and clipped several trees before heading northwest toward the ocean, Werner said.
Kaipo Tsark, 21, of Aiea; Darren Sniffen, 23, of Aiea, and Casey Teixiera, 31, of Kapolei were surfing off Mokuleia Beach Park when the plane struck one of the 30-foot-high pine trees on the Waialua side of the park.
"There was a loud crashing sound (when the plane hit the tree)," Tsark said, "but then the pilot pulled it up so I thought he recovered.
"He went out and made a 90-degree turn and started heading back toward us. I thought it was going to hit us. It came down about 100 feet from us.
"The plane went down hard and so fast. In 20 to 25 seconds, all you could see was the tail of the plane. And then heads started popping out."
Tsark said one of the two flight instructors was swimming toward the surfers.
"He had a large gash on his forehead but told us he was all right," Tsark said. "I looked back out and saw one of the tourists hanging onto a parachute sack and the other tourist swimming toward him.
"The pilot was the farthest out so I went for him. He was bleeding from his face and arms. After I got to him, he told me he didn't want to leave his parachute but I told him he had to. Casey and Darren went to help the tourist hanging onto the sack.
"The pilot wasn't cooperating very much, but I figured he had been through a lot and was just in shock. I didn't want to upset him so I just put him on the board."
Using his leash, Tsark towed the board in. The second jump instructor was swimming in next to him, Tsark said.
"We were about halfway in and the pilot said 'I'm fine, I have to get in' and paddled off on his own," Tsark said. "It was real fortunate no one got hurt or died."
One passenger managed to swim to shore on his own.
Hewitt and Hall were taken to Wahiawa General Hospital and released without treatment.
Tucker and an 18-year-old sky-diving customer were flown by helicopter to Queen's hospital, where the passenger was treated for minor injuries and released.
Tucker was released from the hospital emergency room several hours later after undergoing X-rays.
The pilot was the most seriously injured of the group, suffering a bump on the head and possibly a neck or back injury, said Waialua Fire Department Capt. Brian Emmons.
One of the men also sustained bumps on the head, Emmons said.