Fishermen find wing
from wrecked plane
The catch of the day yesterday for three Oahu fishermen was a wing of a small plane that crashed earlier this month 94 miles north of Maui.
The crew of the Shaka I came upon the drifting wing about 12 miles off Makapuu.
At first the floating wreckage appeared to be a dead whale, and the crew only realized it was a wing as they drew nearer, skipper Andrew Trozzi said.
It was hard to secure the wing because the boat was rocking so much, he said.
The wreckage will be turned over to federal officials investigating the Nov. 15 crash.
William Swears, a former Coast Guard pilot, was alone aboard the Cozy III when its engine died on a flight from Honolulu to San Francisco. He spent more than three hours in the water before being rescued by his former colleagues. Swears was taken to Maui Memorial Medical Center were he was treated for cracked vertebrae, cuts and scrapes, and chemical burns from spilled fuel.
