After McMahon and his friend radioed an in-air emergency, the tower confirmed that’s when they lost contact and the plane no longer appeared on radar.
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Debris was located about 8:19 a.m. Friday in the search for 26-year-old David McMahon, of Kailua, Oahu, and Sidney Uemoto, who is in her 20s, after the pair apparently had to ditch their twin-engine plane off the Kona Coast.
The U.S. Coast Guard says it’s searching for a plane with two people aboard that disappeared off radar after reporting an emergency on a flight between Maui and Kona. One of the Dolphin crews was diverted to investigate and sighted the survivors.
A Navy P-3 Orion airplane was on approach to Kona and overheard the pilot’s call to the tower.
Watchstanders immediately advised mariners to keep a sharp lookout and report any sightings to the Joint Rescue Coordination Center in Honolulu. No additional information was immediately available.
The Chung Hoon, Royal New Zealand air force and U.S. Air Force HC-130 are participating in RIMPAC 2016. The Coast Guard sent a ship to the scene to see if the debris was from the missing plane.
The sea conditions this morning at the aircraft’s last known position – 25 miles northwest of Kona – were not ideal: winds of12 mph from the northeast with waves 2 feet or less and an east swell of 4 feet.
A Coast Guard HC-130 aircraft and helicopter crews from Air Station Barbers Point are searching for the dual-engine aircraft with two people on board.
On scene conditions at the aircraft’s last known position are reportedly 12 miles per hour winds from the northeast with waves 2 feet or less and an east swell of 4 feet. Visibility is limited with haze, isolated showers and darkness.
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The Chung Hoon is homeported in Pearl Harbor.
